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Fact 8: Alcohol has caused Significant
Health, Social, and Crime Problems in this Country, and Legalized Drugs
would only make the Situation Worse. 
Drugs are far
more addictive than alcohol. According to Dr. Mitchell Rosenthal, director
of Phoenix House, only 10 percent of drinkers become alcoholics, while
up to 75 percent of regular illicit drug users become addicted.
Even accepting,
for the sake of argument, the analogy of the legalizers, alcohol use
in the U.S. has taken a tremendous physical and social toll on Americans.
Legalization proponents would have the problems multiplied by greatly
adding to the class of drug-addicted Americans. To put it in perspective,
less than 5 percent of the population uses illegal drugs of any kind.
That’s less than 16 million regular users of all illegal drugs
compared to 66 million tobacco users and over 100 million alcohol users.
According to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), during 2000, there
were 15,852 drug-induced deaths; only slightly less than the 18,539
alcohol-induced deaths. Yet the personal costs of drug use are far higher.
According to a 1995 article by Dr. Robert L. DuPont, an expert on drug
abuse, the health-related costs per person is more than twice as high
for drugs as it is for alcohol: $1,742 for users of illegal drugs and
$798 for users of alcohol. Legalization of drugs would compound the
problems in the already overburdened health care, social service, and
criminal justice systems. And it would demand a staggering new tax burden
on the public to pay for the costs. The cost to families affected by
addiction is incalculable.
If private companies
were to handle distribution—as is done with alcohol—the American
consumer can expect a blizzard of profit-driven advertising encouraging
drug use, just as we now face with alcohol advertising. If the government
were to distribute drugs, either the taxpayer would have to pay for
its production and distribution, or the government would be forced to
market the drugs to earn the funds necessary to stay in business. Furthermore,
the very act of official government distribution of drugs would send
a message that drug use is safe. After all, it’s the U.S. Government
that’s handing it out, right?
Alcohol, a “legal
drug,” is already abused by people in almost every age and socio-economic
group. According to the 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse,
approximately 10.1 million young people aged 12-20 reported past month
alcohol use (28.5 percent of this age group). Of these, nearly 6.8 million
(19 percent) were binge drinkers. American society can expect even more
destructive statistics if drug use were to be made legal and acceptable.
If drugs were
widely available under legalization, they would no doubt be easily obtained
by young people, despite age restrictions. According to the 2001 National
Household Survey on Drug Abuse, almost half (109 million) of Americans
aged 12 or older were current drinkers, while an estimated 15.9 million
or 7.1% were current illicit drug users.
The cost of drug
and alcohol abuse is not all monetary. In 2001 more than 17,000 people
were killed and approximately 275,000 people were injured in alcohol-related
crashes. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration,
approximately three out of every ten Americans will be involved in an
alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives.
 
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