When news of the Columbia University drug bust broke in early December, the national press got a nice natural high as they squealed about the “Operation Ivy League,” in which undercover police discovered a candy store of drugs in the sock drawers of five Columbia students. What surprised me more than the fact that, yes, smart college students engage in the occasional drug use, too, was the incredible magnitude of the expensive, five-month-long undercover operation. The ultimate conclusion? The kids sold some pretty illegal stuff, mostly within their smaller circle of friends.
From what I’ve read about these kids, they were good students (engineer with a 3.5 average, say what?) and could have very well continued on to become reasonably behaved members of society. But that’s neither here nor there and is not, in and of itself, justification for blatantly violating laws. Rather than defending the alleged Columbia drug dealers or or minimizing their transgressions, I prefer to view the entire debacle as a prime illustration of the extent to which American drug policy has become a distorted mess in which misguided morality trumps common sense.
I’ve always been of the “live and let live” persuasion. Frat boys tripping out within the confines of their own houses doesn’t strike me as a problem particularly worthy of taxpayer dollars unless the public welfare is somehow endangered. Though I understand that there are important exceptions to the rule, I subscribe to the “legalize it, regulate it, teach it, and tax it substantially” school of thought. But I recognize I’m so far to the left I probably fall off the political seesaw. Outright legality is probably only possible under the right political atmosphere in the most liberal of hippie communes.
But even if legalization and regulation can’t be a political reality, the U.S. should rethink a drug policy that has ballooned our prison population, surrendered our citizens’ safety to dangerous dealers and cartels and wasted taxpayer dollars. Our country’s harsh judgmental stance is mirrored in our drug laws and led Nixon to declare a “War on Drugs” in 1969. This failed war has cost more than one trillion dollars while failing to make a dent in actual rates of drug abuse. These are dollars that could have been allocated towards police efforts in thwarting violent crime. Instead, they were funneled into a battle that the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy Gil Kerlikowske himself agrees “has not been successful.”
The Puritan mindset that dismisses drug users as damaged, flawed ingrates is somewhat unique to the U.S. Most European countries generally view the predicament of drug use and drug abuse as a public health issue, not one of flawed individual morality. Rather than spotlight users as citizens of questionable personal worth, these countries focus on assisting addicts in their recovery and promoting healthy lifestyles.
In the American war on drugs, our troops’ position has remained stagnant or faltering for 40 years. Were this any other battle, our armies eventually would have retreated and drafted a new war plan. Ultimately, drugs cannot be reckoned with on the battlefields of every American neighborhood because outlawing drugs is like attempting to outlaw human vice itself. Though legalization may remain a daunting proposition to most Americans, it’s pretty clear that our current system needs substantial revision, whether in the form of decriminalization of marijuana or more lenient sentences for petty possession charges.
And so, Operation Ivy League embodies the tragic irony of our war on drugs because at the end of the day, the only people who really will benefit in its aftermath are a few amateur drug peddlers in Morningside Heights. The bust undoubtedly left behind a vacuum of polo-clad young intellectuals still looking to get their kicks.
Amanda Scherker is a Communication sophomore. She can be reached at [email protected].
