Drug Policies the Legacy of Outdated Moral Values and Moral Panics

A disinterested alien observer who came down to the planet Earth and saw the difference in how legal drugs such as alcohol and cigarettes were treated under the law when compared to illegal drugs would be hard pressed to explain the differential treatment. After all, alcohol and cigarettes cause or contribute to far more deaths, injuries, health problems, and social problems than illegal drugs. In fact, some illegal drugs, such as cannabis, are relatively free of side-effects when compared to those two legal substances. Furthermore, even some of the highly villianized hard drugs, such as heroin, are considered less addictive than nicotine. Therefore, it is difficult to understand why some substances are illegal and others are not. The reasons are not scientific or social; therefore, one must look at the history of drug policy in the Western world and...
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