Fake Crack

[Note: The small-l libertarian in me is not sure I approve of even crack being illegal, but the idea in question would be not only be probably lots more efficient in combatting the stuff, but probably more humane as well.]

If they really want to cut down on the use of crack cocaine, the appropriate authorities should deploy fake drug dealers, selling only those myriad harmless fake versions of crack (baking soda rocks, or whatever it is they're using nowadays).

Not only would this keep people from actually using the stuff, but it would undermine confidence in the whole crack industry if a big portion of the crack on the streets was only useful in making cookies. The effect would be to effectively drive up the price of crack for the users, by requiring several purchases to ensure getting one "active" rock, while driving down the profit margin for real crack dealers, by making them compete against cheap government-funded imitation crack. This would discourage new users for reasons both financial (right now, crack is cheap to start) and pharmaceutical (if your first dose of crack is actually baking soda, you won't get anything out of it and probably won't get another), and, to a lesser extent, limit the intake of current users (raising tobacco prices has only a minimal effect on consumptions, addicts being what they are, but it's a start). It would likewise hurt current dealers, by cutting into crack's awesome profit margin, and discourage new entries into the market.

There are some disadvantages, I admit. First off, the entrapment issue. To this end, I think that nobody should be arrested for buying from a fake crack dealer. Not only would this solve the entrapment issue, but it might even give fake crack dealers something of an edge, as they would never be in prison like the competition (though they'd work better as single-mission guys, to keep their reputations from getting ahead of them). Secondly, there's the safety of the fake dealers. However, not only does this go just as much for the police right now, a fake crack dealer could be accompanied by several heavily-armed fake crack dealer bodyguards without standing out. Third, there's the ethics of the government taking money from the desperate addicted, but these days only a few liberals like me are likely to care. Finally, and most importantly, it might cause hard-core crack addicts to become even more desperate. A reasonable point, but not even I think crack being cheap is doing them a favor.