The case for reforming Florida’s mandatory minimum drug laws in seven easy steps!
2 min readFeb 10, 2021
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- An ideal drug sentencing policy would achieve some objective or a group of related objectives — e.g., reduced drug abuse, overdose deaths, and crime associated with the drug trade — at the lowest possible cost. Call the achievement of this ideal “I” such that any move away from “I” is by definition worse than “I.”
- It’s possible mandatory minimum drug laws move Florida closer to “I” than we would be without them (or than we would be if they were reformed in particular ways, e.g., “safety valves.”) If so, reform or repeal of those laws would, by definition, move us further away from “I,” and, by extension, leave us worse off relative to the status quo.
- It is also possible mandatory minimums keep us further away from “I” than we would be without them (or than we would be if they were reformed in particular ways, e.g., “safety valves”). If so, reform or repeal of mandatory minimum drug laws would, by definition, move us closer to “I,” and, by extension, leave us better off relative to the status quo.
- The positions outlined in “2” and “3” are mutually exclusive. If one is correct, the other is incorrect.
- The best way to decide whether the position outlined in “2” or the position outlined in “3” is more likely to be true is to consult the best available evidence.
- The best available evidence suggests — overwhelmingly — that the position outlined in “3” is almost certainly true and the position outlined in “2” is almost certainly false. (See, e.g., here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.)
- Therefore, reforming or repealing Florida’s mandatory minimum drug laws would almost certainly move Florida closer to ideal drug sentencing policy.
