WEBVTT NOTE 4. The Drug Pusher 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 Part 2. Medical 2 00:00:03.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Chapter 4. The Drug Pusher 3 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:18.000 The drug business, an evil business, is responsible for agonizing deaths, crime, robbery, enforced prostitution, and often, murder. 4 00:00:18.000 --> 00:00:23.000 The addict is usually marked for life, even after kicking the habit. 5 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:33.000 During the addictive period, the addict is a helpless slave to the drug, willing to enter into any degradation to secure one more fix. 6 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:42.000 How, then, can the evil nature of the drug pusher be questioned? How can we even presume to look upon him with favor? 7 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:52.000 The evils commonly blamed on heroin addiction are in reality the fault of the prohibition of drugs and not of the addiction itself. 8 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:59.000 The Prohibition of Heroin has the devastating effect of forcing the price up to a level which can only be characterized as astronomical. 9 00:00:59.000 --> 00:01:06.000 When a commodity is outlawed, in addition to all the usual costs of growing, harvesting, curing, transporting, and selling drugs, 10 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:15.000 it is the person who sells drugs illegally who does more than anyone to mitigate the evil effects of the original prohibition. 11 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:21.600 that he has outlawed, in addition to all the usual costs of growing, harvesting, curing, 12 00:01:21.600 --> 00:01:28.380 transporting, merchandising, etc., the costs of evading the law and paying for the punishments 13 00:01:28.380 --> 00:01:33.160 meted out when the evasion fails, must be added. 14 00:01:33.160 --> 00:01:38.780 In the case of bootleg whiskey, during the prohibition era of the 20s, these extra costs 15 00:01:38.780 --> 00:01:45.140 The costs were not excessive because law enforcement was lax and the legislation did not have widespread 16 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:47.460 popular support. 17 00:01:47.460 --> 00:01:51.460 In the case of heroin, these costs are enormous. 18 00:01:51.460 --> 00:01:57.980 Anti-heroin legislation enjoys wide popular support with demands for even stricter laws 19 00:01:57.980 --> 00:01:59.780 and penalties. 20 00:01:59.780 --> 00:02:06.120 Vigilante groups and youth gangs in the inner-city ghetto areas have inflicted their own punishment 21 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:08.880 on Drug Pushers and Addicts. 22 00:02:08.880 --> 00:02:14.320 These groups have had the quasi-support of the law and order faction, making it difficult 23 00:02:14.320 --> 00:02:20.440 and expensive to bribe the police, who fear the great penalties society would impose on 24 00:02:20.440 --> 00:02:22.860 them if they were caught. 25 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:28.360 In addition to having to pay costly bribes to the police, the drug merchants must also 26 00:02:28.360 --> 00:02:35.000 pay high salaries to their employees for the dangers they encounter in smuggling and operating 27 00:02:35.000 --> 00:02:56.040 These are the factors which account for the high price of heroin. 28 00:02:56.040 --> 00:03:01.400 But for these many extra costs imposed by the prohibition of heroin, the price would 29 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:07.560 would not differ in any significant way from the price of other crops, wheat, tobacco, 30 00:03:07.560 --> 00:03:14.160 soya beans, etc. If heroin were legalized, an addict could obtain his daily need for 31 00:03:14.160 --> 00:03:20.600 about the cost of a loaf of bread, according to the best estimates. Under prohibition, 32 00:03:20.600 --> 00:03:27.020 heroin addiction may cost as much as $100 per day for a mature habit. Depending upon 33 00:03:27.020 --> 00:03:34.180 On market information and alternative sources of supply, the addict spends about $35,000 34 00:03:34.180 --> 00:03:37.140 per year to support his habit. 35 00:03:37.140 --> 00:03:44.220 It is obvious that this cost is responsible for the untold human suffering usually blamed 36 00:03:44.220 --> 00:03:46.460 on heroin addiction. 37 00:03:46.460 --> 00:03:52.140 The typical addict is usually young, uneducated, and unable to earn a sufficient amount of 38 00:03:52.140 --> 00:03:55.800 money by honest means to support his habit. 39 00:03:55.800 --> 00:04:01.560 If he does not seek medical and psychiatric help, the only choice the addict can make 40 00:04:01.560 --> 00:04:07.600 to secure his fix is to enter into a life of crime, where he may eventually be hunted 41 00:04:07.600 --> 00:04:10.900 down by the police or street gangs. 42 00:04:10.900 --> 00:04:16.860 Furthermore, the addict criminal is in a far worse position than the non-addict. 43 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:23.100 The non-addict criminal can select the most opportune time and place for a robbery. 44 00:04:23.100 --> 00:04:29.840 But the addict must commit a crime whenever he needs a fix, and these times usually occur 45 00:04:29.840 --> 00:04:34.420 when his reactions are dulled by his drug deprivation. 46 00:04:34.420 --> 00:04:40.180 In reflecting upon the economics of fencing stolen merchandise, it becomes obvious that 47 00:04:40.180 --> 00:04:45.660 the addict must commit an enormous amount of crime to support his habit. 48 00:04:45.660 --> 00:04:52.900 To have the annual amount of $35,000 necessary to buy drugs, the addict must steal roughly 49 00:04:52.900 --> 00:05:16.080 The figure of $200,000 is multiplied by the estimated 10,000 addicts in New York City. 50 00:05:16.080 --> 00:05:22.880 The total of $20 billion is the amount of the total value lost in crimes committed 51 00:05:22.880 --> 00:05:26.400 by Addicts in the Big Apple. 52 00:05:26.400 --> 00:05:31.760 It cannot be stressed strongly enough that these crimes are due to the prohibition of 53 00:05:31.760 --> 00:05:36.040 heroin and not the result of heroin addiction. 54 00:05:36.040 --> 00:05:41.800 It is the prohibition that drastically forces its price up and drives the addict into a 55 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:48.660 life of crime and brutishness, which may end in his own death or that of the victim. 56 00:05:48.660 --> 00:05:54.980 To prove this point, consider the small but significant number of medical doctors who, 57 00:05:54.980 --> 00:05:58.880 having access to heroin, have addicted themselves. 58 00:05:58.880 --> 00:06:04.380 Its price is not prohibitive, since their supply of the drug is not illegal. 59 00:06:04.380 --> 00:06:10.220 Their lives are normal, useful, and fulfilling, with just this one difference. 60 00:06:10.220 --> 00:06:15.880 Economically speaking, their lives would not be too different if, instead of being addicted 61 00:06:15.880 --> 00:06:20.360 to Heroin, they were diabetics and addicted to insulin. 62 00:06:20.360 --> 00:06:26.280 With either addiction, these doctors would still be able to function professionally. 63 00:06:26.280 --> 00:06:32.720 If however their legal supply of heroin were cut off, or insulin were suddenly declared 64 00:06:32.720 --> 00:06:38.880 illegal, these doctors would be at the mercy of the street pusher, unable to ascertain 65 00:06:38.880 --> 00:06:44.280 the quality of the drugs they purchased and forced to pay exorbitant prices for their 66 00:06:44.280 --> 00:06:50.240 Supply. Under these changed circumstances, the position of the addicted doctor would 67 00:06:50.240 --> 00:06:56.280 be more difficult, but it would not be catastrophic, since most of these professionals could easily 68 00:06:56.280 --> 00:07:04.240 afford the $35,000 annual cost of their habit. But what of the uneducated addict living in 69 00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:11.040 poverty who does not have these prospects? The function of the heroin seller, as opposed 70 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:17.480 to his motivation in entering the field, is to keep the price of the drug down. 71 00:07:17.480 --> 00:07:24.240 Each time a few more heroin sellers enter the industry, the price goes down even more. 72 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:29.920 Conversely, each time the number of heroin sellers decreases, through discouragement 73 00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:33.440 or prosecution, the price rises. 74 00:07:33.440 --> 00:07:38.680 Since it is not the sale or use of heroin itself that is responsible for the plight 75 00:07:38.680 --> 00:07:45.200 of the Addict or for the crimes he commits, but rather the high price of heroin caused 76 00:07:45.200 --> 00:07:51.140 by its prohibition, it must follow that any action which results in a drop in the price 77 00:07:51.140 --> 00:07:54.380 of the drug alleviates the problem. 78 00:07:54.380 --> 00:08:00.240 If the problem is caused by the high cost of the drug, then lowering the cost must be 79 00:08:00.240 --> 00:08:02.840 considered as a solution. 80 00:08:02.840 --> 00:08:08.960 But it is the heroin pusher who is instrumental in lowering the price of the drug, and the 81 00:08:08.960 --> 00:08:15.280 forces of law and order who are responsible for raising these prices by interfering with 82 00:08:15.280 --> 00:08:18.280 the activities of the pusher. 83 00:08:18.280 --> 00:08:25.040 Therefore it is the much reviled drug dealer, not the widely beloved narcotics agent, narc, 84 00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:29.360 who must be considered the heroic figure. 85 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:33.960 Prohibition of heroin has been rejected on the grounds that progress and civilization 86 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:36.280 would come to a halt. 87 00:08:36.280 --> 00:08:42.100 The British and Chinese experience with addictive drugs are cited, and we are supposed to picture 88 00:08:42.100 --> 00:08:47.760 scores of people lying around in the street zonked out of their minds. 89 00:08:47.760 --> 00:08:53.320 The argument is that anything which interferes with progress, such as the widespread use 90 00:08:53.320 --> 00:08:56.300 of heroin, should be prohibited. 91 00:08:56.300 --> 00:09:01.300 But there are other things that can interfere with continued progress which most people 92 00:09:01.300 --> 00:09:03.660 would not be willing to prohibit. 93 00:09:03.660 --> 00:09:05.780 Leisure, for one. 94 00:09:05.780 --> 00:09:11.620 If employees took vacations which amounted to 90% of the working year, progress would 95 00:09:11.620 --> 00:09:13.660 certainly falter. 96 00:09:13.660 --> 00:09:16.260 Should long vacations be prohibited? 97 00:09:16.260 --> 00:09:17.660 Hardly. 98 00:09:17.660 --> 00:09:24.260 In addition, the present prohibition of heroin does not eliminate access to the drug. 99 00:09:24.260 --> 00:09:27.860 Formerly it was available only in the inner city ghettos. 100 00:09:27.860 --> 00:09:33.860 Today, it can be purchased on affluent suburban street corners and schoolyards. 101 00:09:33.860 --> 00:09:40.340 In the example of the Chinese experience with drugs, Chinese merchants were forced by gunboat 102 00:09:40.340 --> 00:09:43.700 diplomacy to accept opium. 103 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:50.020 The legalization of addictive drugs would in no way force individuals into the habit. 104 00:09:50.020 --> 00:09:58.020 Indeed, force, or the elimination of force, is the chief reason for scrapping the prohibition of heroin. 105 00:09:58.020 --> 00:10:05.020 In the British case, drugs administered legally at a low cost by a doctor or licensed clinic, 106 00:10:05.020 --> 00:10:12.020 the argument has been made that the number of addicts has risen sharply since their low-cost program started. 107 00:10:12.020 --> 00:10:16.020 But this rise is a statistical artifact. 108 00:10:16.020 --> 00:10:21.480 Formerly, many people were reluctant to report themselves as addicts when it was illegal 109 00:10:21.480 --> 00:10:23.060 to be one. 110 00:10:23.060 --> 00:10:28.620 When addiction was legalized and low-cost drugs were available, the statistics naturally 111 00:10:28.620 --> 00:10:29.680 rose. 112 00:10:29.680 --> 00:10:35.300 The British Government Health Service administers drugs to certified addicts only. 113 00:10:35.300 --> 00:10:40.220 It would indeed be surprising if there were any marked increase in the rate of addiction 114 00:10:40.220 --> 00:10:43.460 under these circumstances. 115 00:10:43.460 --> 00:10:48.860 Another source of the increase in the number of statistically counted addicts is the migration 116 00:10:48.860 --> 00:10:52.720 to the United Kingdom from commonwealth countries. 117 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:58.460 This sudden immigration might well cause temporary problems of adjustment, but it is hardly an 118 00:10:58.460 --> 00:11:00.980 indictment of the British plan. 119 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:06.500 On the contrary, it provides ample testimony to the farsightedness and progressiveness 120 00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:08.400 of the program. 121 00:11:08.400 --> 00:11:13.600 To blame this program for the rise in addiction would be similar to blaming Dr. Christian 122 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:19.280 Bernard, the first doctor to perform transplant heart surgery, for the rise in the number 123 00:11:19.280 --> 00:11:23.800 of people in South Africa who wanted heart surgery. 124 00:11:23.800 --> 00:11:30.220 In conclusion, it should be stated that heroin addiction may be an unmitigated evil, without 125 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:33.040 any socially redeeming features. 126 00:11:33.040 --> 00:11:38.280 If so, efforts to publicize the evils of addiction can only be applauded. 127 00:11:38.280 --> 00:11:45.800 However, the present prohibition of heroin and other hard drugs serves no useful purpose. 128 00:11:45.800 --> 00:11:51.220 It has caused a countless amount of suffering and great social upheaval. 129 00:11:51.220 --> 00:11:57.480 In seeking to uphold this vicious law, the narcotics agent keeps prices up and adds to 130 00:11:57.480 --> 00:11:59.120 the tragedy. 131 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:06.120 It is only the heroin seller, by acting so as to lower prices, even at considerable personal 132 00:12:06.120 --> 00:12:10.760 risk, who saves lives and alleviates the tragedy somewhat.