The Devil's Advocate Makes the Case for Drug Legalization

There is always a lot of controversy surrounding the topic of drug legalization and recent events in California have stirred up the debate again as the movement to legalize marijuana gains momentum.

A lot of people are afraid of drugs. Stories of drug-related crime, overdoses, promising people who die too young and families torn apart by addiction are common and, let’s be honest, make for more compelling news and reality shows than people who dabble in drugs and are unaffected. This is not to say that these stories aren’t true, but one has to wonder how representative they are of what’s happening in the real world. So considering this media bias towards sensationalism and toeing the line when it comes to government policy and the USA’s “War on Drugs” this entry is going to serve as a platform for the devil’s advocate to look at the issue from the other side.

It’s important to recognize how our views of certain drugs change over time. For example, alcohol was once considered a virulent and evil drug that had the potential to instigate the breakdown of society. Now, of course, our views have changed. We know that alcohol is basically an unhealthy habit that, when taken in excess, causes people to make bad choices, potentially get violent and occasionally die from drinking too much. However, we also know that it causes people to relax in social situations, dance the night away and encourage normally stoic men to declare their love for one another. Moderation is the difference between having a great time and making a fool of yourself, or, worst case scenario, ending up in the hospital.

This is not to say that as time goes on our society becomes more and more permissive. The recent decline in the popularity of cigarettes demonstrates that, with continued education on the harmful effects of a drug, our attitudes can change and, as that drug becomes less socially acceptable, our habits change with them.

Marijuana too has received its fair share of unjust criticism. Who can forget the display of fear-mongering and unintentional hilarity in old American propaganda films like Reefer Madness? Click here to check out a classic scene from that particular movie.

These types of films were distributed to scare the public and it worked. These videos seem ridiculous to most of us now but some of the notions they propagated are still alive and well. Check out this blurb about “killer weed” on Fox News.

We all know that it’s possible to die from consuming too much alcohol but in all my research I was unable to find any evidence that there have been any deaths from an “overdose” of marijuana (this does not include accidents, whether in a vehicle or otherwise). Even the DEA or Drug Enforcement Administration’s 1988 report on the “Matter of Rescheduling Marijuana” concludes that, “Simply stated, researchers have been unable to give (test) animals enough marijuana to induce death …In practical terms, marijuana cannot induce a lethal response as a result of drug-related toxicity”.

In terms of other illegal drugs, we really don’t know how addictive they actually are, though there are some studies that compare the addictive properties of different drugs (see graph below). As you can see Nicotine and Cocaine have equivalent ratings when each of their ratings are added up.

Source: Jack E. Henningfield, PhD, for the National Institute of Drug Abuse, Reported by Philip J. Hilts, New York Times, Aug. 2, 1994 "Is Nicotine Addictive? It Depends on Whose Criteria You Use." Source Website


Of course we all know that drugs are addictive on some level, whether it is physical, habitual or emotional, but it’s hard to know how the majority of people would respond to them. A commonly held belief is that most users become addicts. Now let’s say for a minute that that is actually true. Is that because of the incredibly addictive nature of the drug or is it because many habitual users have addictive tendencies and are most likely in negative personal situations that can push them towards excessive drug use? It is hard to say how well-adjusted, happy, healthy people would react to the same drugs. Would they become instantly addicted as we are often led to believe? Or would they be able to dabble in these drugs in moderation for social purposes on an occasional basis? There just isn’t enough information one way or another to make a definitive statement.

Now, with the question of addiction remaining just that, a question, let’s look at what some of the other possible outcomes of drug legalization could be. If drugs were legalized there would be little else for organized crime to do beyond arms deals and prostitution. All of the gang-related drug violence would cease to exist. There would be nothing to fight over. Of course opponents of legalization would point out that a black market for harder and cheaper drugs could still crop up after legalization. That may be true, for a while, but if you think about when prohibition ended and fast forward to today, is there a rampant black market for the sale of alcohol? Not really. Sure, some people buy for minors but people aren’t setting up distilleries in their basements and selling bottles of absinthe in alleys. What’s the reason? I imagine it is because the majority of people don’t actually want to break the law.If they can get it legally and for a reasonable price, most will.

Beyond the potential for reduced crime there could be huge benefits from regulating these substances. The first would be quality. The drugs could be processed to be less intense and without any of the unusual and dangerous “additives” that the current producers of illegal drugs have no scruples about mixing into their product. Furthermore, these drugs would be produced in a safe manner; no more homes exploding because of a meth lab in the attic. To quote Tom Ammiano, a California State Assemblyman, “prohibition is chaos and regulation is control”.

In the past many of the drugs that are now illegal were used for medicinal purposes and in some cases still are. Heroin can be used to control severe pain, while cocaine can be used as a local anaesthetic. Cocaine used to be sold over-the-counter in tonics, as a toothache medication and, of course, we all know that it was an ingredient in the original Coca-Cola. Legalization would allow the medical community to fully explore the potential benefits of these drugs.  

Another bonus is the potential revenue source from taxing the heck out of these new products. Taxing makes it less appealing to make a habit out of using these drugs and the additional revenue could go towards prevention and education. Perhaps the additional money would be best spent on social services for the most vulnerable members of society, who are the most likely candidates for, not only drug use, but, more seriously, drug abuse.

On a global scale, the legalization of drugs would have a huge impact. Cross border drug crime would cease to be a problem and poorer countries would stop being penalized and pushed around on the global stage for their roles in the drug trade. In Afghanistan for example, how much easier would the war effort there be if all of the problems with poppy farming became a non-issue? Instead of inflicting our morality on people who have very few options for making a living, and subsequently driving them into the arms of the very people we hoped to “liberate” them from, we might actually gain their trust and support. America’s “War on Drugs” would be over and those precious resources could be put to better use. Not to mention the fact that resentment in South American countries over the intrusion and meddling of the DEA in their domestic affairs would finally have the chance to cool.

The DEA states that “legalization would result in an unacceptably high number of drug-addicted Americans”. That sort of statement leads many people to believe that making drugs legal will lead to mass addiction rates because everyone will try them, and, of course, be instantly hooked. To those people I have only one question, would you try them? Because I don’t really see myself stepping up to the counter at 7-Eleven and saying “You know what? I was just popping in for a Kit Kat but let’s throw in that package of heroin while you’re at it”. Just because it’s legal doesn’t mean everyone will try it and just because some people will try it doesn’t mean they will all like it. Furthermore, out of the ones that do like it, we really don’t know how many will become truly addicted.

The devil’s advocate rests. Defenders of the status quo are now called to make their case.