For economics professor Art Benavie, the drug war is mission impossible.
Reefer Madness, hosted by the Young Democrats and the Carolina Review, invited Benavie to lecture on his viewpoint on the current drug war in the Student Union on Tuesday.
About 30 attendees heard his pitch for the legalization of drugs and the end of the drug war.
Referencing his book released in 2008, “Drugs: America’s Holy War,” Benavie’s argument for drug legalization included topics such as public health, economics and civil rights.
Benavie said that the primary reason for the high rates of violence around drug markets is because leaders of drug cartels, not the effects of drugs, are killing others.
“Alcohol is the only drug that leads people to commit violent crimes,” he said.
Benavie also said the drug war is a public health hazard.
“One-quarter of all new HIV cases were caused by the sharing of dirty needles.”
Benavie said that America could gain $77 billion a year by eliminating the $44 billion spent on fighting the drug war, and could turn a $33 billion profit off of taxes if drugs were legalized.
The attendees for Benavie’s lecture were largely politically interested members of the Young Democrats and the Carolina Review. But one man made an appearance and a miniature lecture of his own.
Korky Day, a Canadian-American who has argued for the legalization of drugs for 44 years, gave an impromptu speech in which he blamed political parties for the drug problem.
Those in attendance said they believed Benavie addressed the issue well.
“I was really satisfied with it and how he had a concrete approach to addressing the problem,” said Amit Rao, co-director of the political committee of the Young Democrats.
“You rarely get to see a speaker talk from the other side of the issue, so it was a much different discussion than teenagers usually have.”
Other students said they enjoyed the statistics Benavie supplied.
“I find the actual physical effects of drugs to be fascinating,” said Deanna Santoro, speaker of Student Congress, in reference to a fact revealed by Benavie that heroin alone cannot kill somebody without overdose.
Toward the end of his lecture, Benavie even revealed his personal drug preference.
“My favorite drug is probably coffee with caffeine, because marijuana was never for me,” he said.
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Professor calls for the legalization of drugs
Korky Day, right, who has been advocating for drug legalization for 44 years, spoke during a brief lecture by professor Benavie.
