The issue of whether or not drugs should be legalised in America is essentially the same as whether or not they should be legalised in any other country. However, the word “drugs” is a little vague. Drugs could mean anything from cannabis to sodium pentothal and from LSD to PCP. It could also include alcohol and nicotine so looking at “drugs” as though they were some all-encompassing term that is either right or wrong or should be legal or illegal is fairly lazy.
Likewise there are various stages of legality; a drug can be legal in terms of its availability by prescription or by sale in stores.
There are many illegal drugs that I have to admit to taking for recreational purposes and I am aware of the fact that they have potential as a prescribed drug but would not necessarily want them to be available to anyone walking into a chemist.
The tendency of people considering only certain drugs in the debate is alarming. Here’s a list of recreational drugs that I know of (and I’m sure I don’t know them all).
Alcohol (booze), Amphetamine (speed), Cannabis (pot), Cocaine (coke), DMT, Heroin (smack), Ketamine (special K), LSD (acid), MDMA (ecstasy), Mescaline (Peyote synthesis), Nicotine (cigarettes) PCP (angel dust), Psylocibin (magic mushrooms) and I’m sure there’s more.
The idea of making all of those drugs legal or illegal seems to be ridiculous, all of the chemicals need to be studied and their legality assessed on a one-by-one basis.
The fact that the only two widely legalised drugs from the above list are alcohol and nicotine seems to be completely ridiculous, especially when their merits and dangers are weighed up against those of for example cannabis.
There is also another aspect to consider; that of morality vs legality.