This is the second part of an article on drug legalisation. Please find the first part here. A podcast and Youtube video on the topic are also freely available!
Should we legalise recreational drug use? The main arguments against legalising recreational drugs are:
- The escalation argument: one drug leads to another, and the doses rise over time.
- Gateway drugs: “soft” drugs are gateways into drug use that invariably lead to the consumption of stronger and more dangerous drugs.
- Addiction is itself dangerous, both in a medical and in a social context.
- The war on drugs seems (sometimes) to work better than drug legalisation.
- No one should be taking drugs for ethical reasons.
- There is a moral obligation for all people to take care of themselves and their health.
- Drug users are not free in their decision to take drugs or not, and must therefore be guided and protected by the state.
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Debate overview: Legalising recreational drugs
Historical context
Before the 20th century, drugs were generally not regulated and even states engaged officially in drug trade (see, for example, the Opium Wars between Britain and China).
In the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, the US introduced controls for many drugs considered addictive and/or dangerous. This was part of a more general trend in US society towards safeguarding “Christian” values that had started in the 19th century and included the prohibition of alcoholic drinks that was put into law from 1920 to 1933.
For more on the debate on legalisation vs decriminalisation of drugs and the different kinds of drugs, please go back to the first part of this article.
Six Reasons to Legalise Recreational Drugs
Should we legalise recreational drug use or not? This article explains the most important six arguments in favour of the legalisation of recreational drugs.
Seven best arguments against legalising recreational drugs
1. The escalation argument
Escalation means that one does not stay at a particular level of drug consumption; instead, the consumer of a drug tends to increase the amount taken over time.
Escalation is often linked to tolerance, the mechanism by which the body gets used to a drug, needed more and more of the drug over time to achieve the same effect. One can easily observe tolerance with smells: in a neutrally smelling room, even a small drop of peppermint or rose oil with be immediately noticeable. After a while, though, the body will get used to that smell, and a higher dose will be needed to produce the same subjective impression.
But escalation and tolerance are really different mechanisms. Escalating drug use is a behavioural chance that works separately from the biochemical tolerance of the body to a particular drug.
That escalation is not only a myth can be shown with animal …
Read the full article which is published on Daily Philosophy (external link)
