Hofstra Law Review Volume 18 | Issue 3 Article 10 1990 A Bill to Repeal Criminal Drug Laws: Replacing Prohibition with Regulation Joseph L. Galiber Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/hlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Galiber, Joseph L. (1990) "A Bill to Repeal Criminal Drug Laws: Replacing Prohibition with Regulation," Hofstra Law Review: Vol. 18: Iss. 3, Article 10. Available at: http://scholarlycommons.law.hofstra.edu/hlr/vol18/iss3/10 This document is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hofstra Law Review by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons at Hofstra Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Galiber: A Bill to Repeal Criminal Drug Laws: Replacing Prohibition with R A BILL TO REPEAL CRIMINAL DRUG LAWS: REPLACING PROHIBITION WITH REGULATION Joseph L. Galiber* Conventional wisdom obliges elected officials to beat the narcodrums loudly and incessantly, and to demand increasingly harsh criminal penalties for the sale and use of illegal drugs.' It is reasonable to wonder why I, a senator, would dare submit a bill2 to the New York State Legislature which would regulate all drugs cur- rently proscribed as illegal in precisely the same manner as alcohol.3 The short answer is that the use of the criminal law to control drug use has not, and never will, have anything more than a costly and marginal impact on drug consumption.4 Despite all the public hyperventilation, drug consumption remains a private, consensual * New York State Senator; B.A.