I think we fail to see why we have the war on drugs. Narcotics and drug trafficing were becoming serious problems for America, starting in the middle 1960s. As the price for narcotics fell, and they became more common, demand went through the roof. Drug addicts were despite to get more narcotics, at any cost.

Suddenly, streets that were previously safe, suddenly were dangerous due to drugs, and often even in plain daylight. The unthinkable was happening, with shootings in plain daylight were starting to become common. New York State, under the leadership of Nelson Rockefeller experimented, and tried two totally different drug policies to try to deal with the increasing drug use. This is not particularly surpising, as by 1971, 1/2 of all violent crime (shootings, robbery) in New York City was narcotics related, and the majority of illegal drugs in the US were being taken through the port of New York.

The first attempt at the problem, in 1962, was remarkably similar to what has been put on the table today. These laws gave courts the option of either a prison sentence (typically 6 months to a year) or treatment (several years). Some 75% of all narotics users chose the first for obvious reasons. Prison meant the users didn't have to go clean (yes, it was possible back then to get drugs snuck into prisons, like today), they avoided counseling, and they were back on the street sooner. The majority of those who took the prison route relapsed, and were quickly addicts again. Prison made them tougher and really did not keep them off the streets.

In the early 70s, it was clear hard drugs were seriously destroying life in the urban areas. The previous approach was not working. Too many people were going to prison for narcotics violations, and coming out just as addicted, if not worse.

Several approaches were proposed to deal with problem. It was clear that tougher sentences were part of the solution. If the dealers were in prison for longer, they would be off the street for longer. Nelson ended up supporting a very thought version of the drug laws. He felt cleaning up drug addicts from urban areas would be an important part of the solution for urban renewal. He probably was right.

New York State in 1973 released the Rockefeller Drugs Laws, and with many shocking and clear television ads, made it clear that carrying around the bag, would mean prision for a long time. It made some improvements to urban areas, but of course it was not the success Rocky would have liked it to have been.

I think today though, Rocky would support at least some reform for the drug laws. A lot of science has changed since 1972. We have better drug counselers. We should make more reasonable prison sentence, and ensure quality drug counseling is available for all. Those reforms are very expensive. Nobody wants to pay more taxes to help drug addicts. We seem to be stuck in this loop right now, even though progressives want change when it comes to drug law.