Why are some drugs illegal?

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:39:27 +0100

The way our criminal and justice systems is something I think about from time to time. In particular the amount of money we spend trying to suppress and criminalize human vices.

In the shower today I was thinking about smoking cannabis and committing murder. The argument in my head ran along the lines of:

"Drug laws do not work. People want to use cannabis/cocaine/heroin/... and they do so, despite laws and the threat of prosecution. So just why is the use of these drugs illegal?"

But I countered that with a comparison to murder. People continue to murder other people despite laws and the threat of prosecution. We could say the murder laws do not work and so we should just de-criminalize murder and save a lot of time and money, right?

In thinking about this further I tried to think about why taking drugs is criminal. What is criminal about it?

The act of ingesting drugs itself is clearly not illegal. Very few of us have not taken some kind of drug orally or nasally even if it's just alcohol or tobacco.

The act of ingesting a drug that harms you is clearly not illegal. Tobacco and alcohol are both legal and proven to cause harm.

The act of ingesting drugs beyond a moderate limit is clearly not illegal. Nobody can legally stop you smoking 5 packs a day or drinking 12 pints of lager every day.

So what is the root of the criminal nature of drug taking? Is it entirely arbitrary? Or is there a rationale somewhere in the legislation?

Curiouser and Curiouser! on drugs

Why are some drugs illegal?