Does Making It Legal Make It Safer?

If drugs are legal and regulated like alcohol or cigarettes, will drug related crime disappear?

In 2013 Uruguay became the first country in South America to legalise marijuana in an attempt to end the bloodshed that surrounds the illegal drug industry.

In legalising marijuana the hope is that the region will become safer for all those who are affected by the illegal drug trade, such as civilians who get caught in the violence between rival gangs.

The drug industry in South America has made it dangerous for many social and ethnic groups such as journalists attempting to expose the bloodshed, activists fighting for human rights, and government officials that refuse to be corrupted by the drug industry.

By starting with the legalisation of marijuana Uruguay hopes to end the violence associated with drugs and have it treated as a product. In fact, the drug is set to become a product that is produced in Uruguay, sold, and distributed like wine or coffee. The only similar drug related legislation seen in the world is the likes of places like Amsterdam where the consumption of marijuana in designated “coffee shops” is permitted.

So what have the results been? Has drug related crime decreased since the introduction of the legalisation of marijuana legislation? Well to start Uruguay has a fairly low crime rate to begin with, so is the marijuana legislation purely for profit rather than a focus on decreasing drug related crimes.

Since the law has not been fully implemented yet (like selling the drug through pharmacies) there is not way to track an increase or decrease yet in the crime rate. With an increasing crime rate leading up to the legislation, Uruguay’s marijuana law seems to be a panicked idea to rapidly decrease it.

Taylor-Jayne Wilkshire

Sources: http://www.insightcrime.org/investigations/uruguay-marijuana-legalization

http://www.drugpolicy.org/drug-trafficking-latin-america

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