Legalizing Marijuana

Suppose that someone has some life threatening illness and suppose that a drug that has not yet been approved by the FDA can cure this illness. Should he have to die just because some government bureaucrat tells him that he cannot have this drug?

There are millions of AIDS patients in similar tragedy. The two most harmful and dangerous substances are alcohol and tobacco. Yet, they are legal, only because they are popular. Marianne Apostolides of the pro-legalization Lindesmith Center wrote in the Wall Street Journal: "Marijuana is safer than other substances such as nicotine and steroids. Most people who use marijuana have no problem with it."

“The question about legalized drugs is the defining point for a Libertarian. If you are opposed to legalizing all drugs, then you are not a Libertarian, by definition.” Sam Sloan

But if we analyze did alcohol use decrease when it was legalized? Answer is No. When abortion became legal, did abortions decrease? No. When an action becomes legal, the number of people carrying out that action increases. Drugs are not different

Drugs Abuses, Crimes and Legalization

Crimes will also not be reduced by drug legalization. Studies show a correlation between drug use and crime - violent crimes such as homicides, assaults and domestic violence. Why is this? It's quite simple - drugs cause violent behavior.

In actuality, crime will rise when drugs are legal because more people will be taking drugs. Crime is high in high-drug use areas not because people are committing a crime to get drugs, but the influence of the drugs made them more inclined to commit a crime. For instance:

A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (7/6/94) reports that cocaine use is linked to high rates of homicide in New York City and that "homicide victims may have provoked violence through irritability, paranoid thinking or verbal and physical aggression which are known to be pharmacologic effects of cocaine."

Data from the National Institute of Justice (U.S. Department of Justice) Drug Use Forecasting (DUF) program underscore the crime-drugs link. Of a sample of males arrested in 23 U.S. cities, the percent testing positive for at least one drug in the DUF survey ranged from 54% in Omaha to 81% in Chicago. Among female arrestees, the percent testing positive for any drug in 20 cities ranged from 42% in San Antonio to 83% in Manhattan.

The violent behavior caused ...