KellanStec

Think really hard to yourself for a minute. Why do you suppose some drugs such as ethanol, caffeine, ibuprofen, and nicotine are legal–while others such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC, found in cannabis), seratonin (LSD), and dopamine (cocaine) are not? Be sure you’re able to give logical reasons–and don’t let the drugs that are currently legal fit your definition of a harmful drug! I gave up already too. Recently, a team of British researchers conducted an investigation to categorize the most commonly used drugs, effectively giving them a “harm rating”. They categorized twenty different drugs including both ones that are currently illegal and legal.

Their findings were interesting. The study looked at physical harm (acute, chronic, parenteral), dependence (intensity of pleasure, psychological dependence, physical dependence), and social harms (intoxication, other social harms, healthcare costs). Here is the chart of the results:

The classes indicate at which class the laws currently classify that particular drug. Isn’t that something? The class system seems to be arbitrary. We have alcohol (perfectly legal) near the top of the charts right next to heroin, meth, and cocaine. Drugs like LSD and Ecstasy are on the bottom of the chart. Marijuana is right in the middle below tobacco. It’s actually about what you’d expect if you weren’t conditioned by the current stigma against some drugs while others are readily available.

So, why don’t we just ban all drugs? Then we won’t have to worry about any of this stuff. Well, we’ve tried that once. It didn’t work. When you make a drug illegal, the people who want to use it will find a way to use it. It allowed organized criminals to profit from the illegal sale of the beverage. When alcohol was not readily available, people who wished to use it were willing to pay more for it. This forced mobsters such as Al Capone to take more radical measures when securing a shipment.

So, banning all drugs is probably not a practical option. It also appears that our current system is impractical and arbitrary. There is no good reason that marijuana should be illegal and tobacco not. Banning alcohol is not a viable option since it’s already deemed acceptable by the majority of society. But, if we leave that legal then what reason do we have to keep ecstasy classified as a Class A drug?

My solution would be to legalize all drugs. I’m crazy? Hear me out. It’s my belief that this is not an issue about drugs. It’s an issue about freedom. Here are four reasons that I think make a logical argument for the legalization of all drugs:

1. Reduce crime. A large majority of drug-related crime is committed by the people who profit from the unregulated drug market. If we make all drugs legal, we will effectively eliminate these types of crimes. We would be able to regulate the usage.
2. Save Money. With legal drugs, our prisons would be freed of people who are lawbreakers of victimless crimes. Our government would not have to spend billions of the taxpayers’ money on the “war on drugs”. The prices of these drugs would be dramatically reduced, and users would not have to steal to support their habit. This money could then be used to improve public health and education programs. Alternatively, it could not be taken from citizens in the first place, drastically reducing tax rates.
3. Promote Freedom. In a free society, an adult should be allowed to put whatever he or she chooses to put in their body. It is not the government’s job to play babysitter in our personal lives.
4. Decriminalize otherwise law-abiding citizens. Over half of all people in this country aged 15-16 have used an illegal drug. Up to to one and a half million people use ecstasy every weekend. When so many people use illegal drugs, why not let the laws match the majority?

These are just a few reasons, and there are many more. My point is, why do we have such a system in place? It’s perfectly acceptable to use alcohol–even while alcohol is clearly more harmful to yourself and others than marijuana. For most people, the thought doesn’t even cross their mind that they are using drugs when drinking alcohol. Some people may say that the legalization of all drugs would cause a great surge of drug use. I think this is an insult to human integrity. This suggests that the only reason they don’t drive around on the roads while high is because it is illegal to do so.

People use drugs because they do what they are supposed to do. People smoke marijuana because it makes them feel good. People take caffeine to perk themselves up. No drug has a monopoly on safety. Taking too much caffeine can kill you. It is literally impossible to overdose on marijuana. Yet, one is legal and one is not. Why? As long as their drug use harms nobody else, an adult should be able to take whichever drug they wish to. That’s what freedom is about.