I think that
non-addictive substances, and possibly even
addictive substances which are currently
illegal should be
legalized. After all,
Alcohol,
Tobacco and
Caffeine are already legal.
In many states,
marijuana is the largest
cash crop. The US does a huge
trade in drugs every year, and we are losing all of that potential
tax money! If we legalized drugs, and taxed the heck out of them, then many of us, especially the poorer segments of
society, may not need to pay taxes at all anymore. (Unless they used drugs, of course.)
Many would argue that if drugs are legalized, then people would
use them. It's a
lame argument, and current drug usage levels prove it to be
untrue. People use drugs whether they are legal or not. Many people in our fragmented society use drugs for a variety of reasons. Making the drugs illegal does not help these people. Dealing with the
causes or
roots of the individual
drives and
societal conditions that precipitate
drug addiction works much better than writing and enforcing
laws.
In The Netherlands], many drugs are legal. In
France, they are not. Drug usage in France is considerably higher than drug usage in the Netherlands. The deciding factor is probably more closely related to the
quality of life than to whether or not the drugs are legal.
In addition, no matter what we do, there will always be some portion of the
population which is addicted to a substance. Alcohol was one of mankinds
earliest inventions. It is in our
nature to seek
recreation, and
enjoy the feelings that (some) drugs create. The fact that drugs are legal or illegal will not alter this.
So, I say let's legalize drugs, go for the tax money, and stop making people who use drugs feel like
criminals. If we bring drug addiction into the
light of day, we'll be better able ot deal with it, and help those who want
help. We'll be able to tax a trade which is recreational, and perhaps save on the amount of money which is taken out our paychecks.