This week, under the smoke-screen of “an adult approach to drug policy,” the libertarian Cato Institute is hosting a “who’s who” of those who want to make drugs legal in America. The term “reform” is, in this case, a subterfuge. At base, the goal of these individuals is not to reform our drug laws, but to do away with these laws and legalize dangerous drugs.

If there is any doubt about the goals of these individuals, take them at their words. New Mexico’s Gov. Gary Johnson, the conference’s keynote speaker, has called for legalization of drugs including heroin and marijuana. Mr. Johnson has gone so far as to call cocaine, a drug that destroys millions of lives, “wonderful.” His unwillingness to recognize the suffering caused by drug abuse is underscored by his veto of millions of dollars worth of drug treatment funds—money that would have helped New Mexicans with drug addictions to reclaim their lives.

Similarly, under the smokescreen of drug policy reform, Ethan Nadelman, president of the Lindesmith Center, has called for “mak(ing) drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin legal” and gone so far as to “propose a mail order distribution system based on a right of access.” He wants us to: “begin by testing low potency cocaine products — coca-based chewing gum or lozenges… If some people want to distill those products into something more potent, let them.” For all the talk of reform and the like, it is clear the real agenda is the legalization of drugs in America.

In addition to concealing their real agenda, those who want to legalize drugs also go to extremes to confuse the public about America’s efforts to fight drug use. Compare their fictions to the real facts:

Fiction: Our efforts against drugs are a failure.
Fact: The 1999 National Household Survey found that overall youth drug use rates among children (age 8-12) are down 13 percent from last year. Among these children cocaine use is down 20 percent, inhalant use is down 45 percent and marijuana use is down 12 percent during the same period. The number of current cocaine users has dropped from 5.7 million in 1985 to 1.75 million in 1998 — a decline of more than 70 percent. We have reduced the number of drug related murders to a 10-year low. We have cut the amount of money Americans spend buying drugs by 37 percent between 1988 and 1995.

Fiction: We are waging a war on drugs.
Fact: Wars are waged by armies using weapons to kill enemies. The primary goal of the National Drug Control Strategy is to educate young people to prevent them from ever trying drugs. Nor are drug-taking Americans the enemy —they require our help to break free of their addictions. Police officers stop pushers from selling drugs to our children — we are not at war with ourselves, we are protecting America’s future.

Fiction: We are locking up small-scale marijuana drug users for long prison terms.
Fact: According to the most recent statistics available from the U.S. Sentencing Commission, in 1998 only 33 individuals sentenced for federal drug crimes involving marijuana were convicted for base offense levels involving less than 5,000 grams. During this same period, 1,229 individuals were convicted for marijuana offenses involving between 100,000 grams and 2,999,999 grams.

Fiction: Legalizing drugs would reduce the harms drugs cause to our society.
Fact: Drugs are illegal because they are dangerous, not vice versa. Any approach that would increase the availability of drugs would exponentially increase the damages these substances cause. Anyone who doubts that a more permissive approach to drugs would only increase suffering need only look at New Mexico’s example. Under Mr. Johnson’s leadership, New Mexico’s rate of heroin deaths is more than twice the national average.

We would be foolish to consider a course of action that would significantly increase the rates of domestic drug use. We all need to be clear on the toll that drug use already exacts on our society. Each year illegal drug use costs our nation $110 billion in increased social costs, contributes to 52,000 drug-related deaths and drives countless violent criminal acts.

The dangers of drug use fall disproportionately on young lives and dreams. A child who regularly uses marijuana (weekly) is roughly 4 times more likely to physically assault another person, 6 times more likely to steal, 6 times more likely to cut classes, and 3 times more likely to destroy other people’s property than a peer who never uses the drug. Drug use also is a significant contributing factor in incidences of child abuse– Columbia University’s Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse reports that substance abuse (including drugs and alcohol) exacerbates 7 of every 10 child abuse or neglect cases.

Whether you call it legalization, decriminalization or drug policy reform, the bottom line is that the agenda espoused by people like Mr. Johnson would put more drugs into the hands of our children and make drugs more available on our nation’s streets. Americans don’t want our children using fake IDs to buy drugs like cocaine, and heroin at the corner store or via the Internet or even through a government’ run system. We don’t want the driver of the 18-wheeler next to our family minivan high on marijuana. We want our children to grow up with bright futures, not drug addictions.

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Barry P. McCaffrey is the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.