Quote:
Originally Posted by llasram
I think you're perfectly correct that the analogy carries, although I’m not sure which direction you’re carrying it  . I personally feel that drug legalization should be considered on a drug-by-drug basis as a public health issue (rather than as a moral issue). I think it’s very difficult to build a rational argument for banning marijuana – its illegality contributes to a massive black market economy and has the criminalizing effect discussed. Methamphetamine dealers on the other hand I’m all for draconian punishment. |
My personal view is that all drugs should legalised and that manufacturers should be licenced to produce them. The crime resulting from drugs is almost exclusively due to their illegality and the health effects largely due to their adulteration by street dealers. Adults should be allowed to decide for themselves whether to take drugs, just as we are allowed to decide at present whether to use alcohol or tobacco. Cocaine, for example, is not physiologically addictive (unlike tobacco); heroin kills a tiny fraction of the number of people that alcohol does. The present situation is competely ludicrous, IMHO. We have drugs which are "socially acceptable" and then much less harmful ones that one is made a criminal by using.