I am bringing you this article, not as a heavyweight libertarian who opposes government involvement in people's affairs, but rather as a conservative who strongly believes in the freedom of the individual from harmful laws.
I think most of us are in general agreement that the excessive use of illegal drugs is detrimental to one's health. I am in no way advocating the use of drugs. I am in no way attempting to provoke anyone to break the laws of our great nation. I am merely questioning the logic in continuing a governmental war on drugs that is not working.
The whole uproar about drugs in the first place is rather odd. Statistics show that drugs like cocaine kill far less people than the legal alternatives in the United States. In fact, cocaine kills less people than swimming pool accidents. To quote statistics from Dr. Walter Wink, a specialist in the field, “alcohol is associated with 40 percent of all suicide attempts, 40 percent of all traffic deaths, 54 percent of all violent crimes, and 10 percent of all work-related injuries.”
Nicotine, the most addictive drug of all, has transformed lung cancer from a medical curiosity to a common disease that now accounts for three million deaths a year worldwide and 60 million since the 1950s. Smoking will kill one in three smokers eventually. Where is the call for a ban on nicotine? The same individuals who sit and preach about the “dangers” of marijuana are the ones pumping their lungs with nicotine from tobacco use.
Not a single person can document a death related to the use of marijuana, yet the slow acting and miserable Drug Enforcement Agency is not even wiling to allow the legalization of it for medical use. Statistics have also shown that cocaine is not as addictive as nicotine is, only three percent of those that try it actually become addicted to it; yet another blow to the traditionalists on capital hill who sit with their thumbs you know where.
The statement is frequently made of how “bad, dangerous and utterly destructive” drugs are and how we as a society have an obligation to keep them from children. But it's a downright shame how we as a society can preach so loudly about how damaging drugs such as ecstasy and marijuana are, but at the same time allow the consumption of alcohol and cigarettes.
Where is the reliable evidence that points out the difference between the drugs that are kept illegal and those that are kept legal? Where is the reliable scientific evidence?
According to Dr. Benson B. Roe, legalization will lead to purity assurance under Food and Drug Administration regulation, labeled concentration of the produce to avoid overdose, obliteration of vigorous marketing pushers, obliteration of drug crime and reduction of theft , and finally savings in expensive enforcement and significant tax revenues. Effort and funds can then be directed to educating the public about the hazards of all the drugs. Education can work if it's used properly.
I challenge any of you traditionalists to write me with the “logical” benefits of keeping drugs illegal.
