Rethinking America's Illegal Drug Policy
October 13, 2009
- John J. Donohue III, Yale University
Decriminalization and legalization of marijuana and cocaine should be “seriously considered” in the reform of illegal drug policy in the U.S., said John J. Donohue III, a Visiting Fellow at the Milton Friedman Institute and Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law at Yale Law School.
Decriminalization could minimize costs, although it would not address values embedded in our drug policy, such as distributive justice. Donohue outlined these views during a discussion of his paper “Rethinking America’s Illegal Drug Policy,” cowritten by Yale colleagues Ben Ewing and David Peloquin, at the Law School. “Cost minimization would likely be better achieved through particular versions of decriminalization or legalization.”