In an editorial published Wednesday, The Economist urged President Joe Biden to legalize cocaine.
THE QUOTE
In the essay titled “Joe Biden is too timid. It is time to legalise cocaine,” the British publication said Biden’s recent blanket pardon of people charged with simple cannabis possession and his moves toward legalizing the drug are insufficient.
- “Prohibition is not working—and that can be seen most strikingly with cocaine, not cannabis,” The Economist wrote, pointing to the failure of the war on drugs to eradicate cocaine production.
- According to The Economist, “The real answer is full legalisation, allowing non-criminals to produce a strictly regulated, highly taxed product, just as whisky- and cigarette-makers do.”
The Economist joins liberal politicians and activists pushing a “harm reduction” approach to substance abuse, aiming to make it safer and less socially stigmatizing to use drugs.