Opinion: ASU Students' Deaths Don't Reflect On School

This article contains some of the most lucid observations of America's drug trade problem that I've read in some time.

By Matthew Robinson — an associate professor of Criminal Justice at Appalachian State University — for the Winston-Salem Journal:

...research by drug-policy experts illustrates that most drug-related crime is not psychopharmacological in nature. That is, the bulk of violent crime associated with illicit drugs is not due to individuals committing violence under the influence of illicit drugs. Instead, drug-related violence is mostly systemic and economic compulsive. Systemic violence is criminality driven by the black market (for example, when one dealer kills another dealer or a buyer who owes him money). Economic compulsive violence is criminality committed by people to obtain money to buy drugs, which are higher in price, given their illegal nature. The murders of ASU students Joey McClure and Stephen Harrington are good examples of systemic violence, which makes up the majority of murders associated with illicit drugs. One proper conclusion to draw from these deaths is that, in many cases, America's drug war actually produces violence and murder. Since drug dealers cannot solve their disputes legally - in a court of law, for example - they turn to violence to settle their disputes.

...the most dangerous drugs are legal. For example, tobacco kills 420,000 Americans every year. According to ASU, the university enrolls 14,653 students. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 22 percent of college-age youth smoke cigarettes and one-third of them will die from tobacco-related causes. This means approximately 1,064 current ASU students will suffer tobacco-related deaths. Further, according to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the drug most likely to produce violent behavior is alcohol, which happens to be the drug most widely used by ASU students. The available evidence concerning drugs and crime thus suggests that if ASU wants to protect its students from drug-related harms, it should push for alternatives to the drug war that actually reduce harms, and focus most of its efforts on making sure that its students do not smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol heavily.