This topic was somewhat broached in the seatbelt law thread in this forum, but rather than sidetrack that discussion I thought I would move the discussion here.
Recreational drugs create a lot of problems in the world. They themselves are dangerous in excess or with especially powerful ones even small quantities can be deadly, but above that there are even more dangerous crimes committed around the production, transport, and selling of illegal recreational drugs on an underground market. Most recently, thousands of people have been killed in Mexico due to increased government crackdowns on Mexico-US border drug-smuggling towns, with an estimated 4000 people killed in Mexico this year alone, and 12,000 total since 2006. In a particularly illustrative article here, it's easy to see how drug use in the US has had major spillover effects; creating gang controlled border towns, facilitating illegal drug trade and in turn increasing illegal gun exports to Mexican gangs, resulting in increased violence and crime levels.
In terms of national security, most terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaeda, have funded their operations almost exclusively from illegal drug trading, with countries like Afghanistan and North Korea collecting huge portions of their GDP from illegal drug trade. The United States' "War on Drugs," largely regarded as an utter failure, has done little to curb this violence, and in fact by eliminating smaller, less efficient drug operations, the United States has allowed large cartels to do business as never before, vastly increasing the value of their products. This extreme profitability means that the United States would have to seize over 75% of all drug shipments before they drug leaders saw any loss, and in reality only 10-30% of shipments are being seized now, despite ramped up efforts.
The question is, what can be done about this? I am interested to hear your opinions, and below I have detailed mine:
To see an effective end to the vast criminal network associated with the production, distribution, and sale of illegal recreational drugs, the only complete solution that exists is simple: across the board drug legalization. If drugs could be purchased in the same way we buy cigarettes and alcohol, the demand for dangerous, underground drugs would virtually vanish, along with any profit margins that drug lords once enjoyed. Countries like Afghanistan and North Korea would no longer have markets to sell their drugs on if everyone could produce their own for cheap, and an easy source of income for organized crime and terrorist organizations would be abolished, severely weakening these organizations. This decrease in crime, as well as the elimination of drug related arrests, would also leave our police forces more free to deal with other concerns and offer better protection, while reducing tax dollars spend on catching marijuana users.
Moreover, the legalization of drugs has not been proven to lead to an increase in abuse, and in fact countries such as the Netherlands have seen a decrease in the number of hard drug abusers and a vast increase in the number of people who seek help, which can be funded by the government without conflict of interest, resulting in a very low percentage of "problem drug-users" compared to other countries (source). The gateway drug theory, arguing that people who start smoking marijuana will move on to more dangerous drugs for a greater high, has been largely disproven. Moreover, by selling drugs legally they will be subject to the same quality control that regulates all other legally sold products, reducing the chance that dangerous chemicals will be inserted into the drugs.
The final argument is one of freedom. As discussed briefly in the other thread, drug use a consensual crime, where both the seller and the user agree to the act, but the government has outlawed the activity. Using a drug in its own right affects no one but the voluntary consumer. If we are to accept that all people are equal, then it makes no sense that another person can tell you what you are allowed to do to yourself, anymore than you can force another person to do something against their choosing. Only when drug use is combined with activities such as driving can it be made illegal, because of the significant dangers it poses to other people. In addition, although some people may destroy their lives with drugs, being convicted of a even a consensual crime such as smoking pot by the government will ruin a persons' life guaranteed, by spoiling future job opportunities,ability to get insurance and credit, and forcing them to waste their time away in jail on our tax dollars. This makes little sense.
I'm sure that many people will not agree with what I've said, but I would be curious to hear from everyone, especially those who may not agree entirely with what I propose but may agree in part. Widely discussed is the possible legalization of marijuana, which is largely proved to be a mostly harmless drug in comparison with cigarettes; impossible to overdose on and yielding relatively mild results that do not increase violent behavior. Most drug related arrests in the US are related to Marijuana, and for certain it's legalization would have a significant impact on drug crime in the US. If we're going to move in baby steps, I think that marijuana is certainly the first place to start.