Should Drugs be Legalized?

In the wake of the legalization of marijuana there are now activist groups pushing for the legalization of all illegal drugs. Some of them make a convincing case with intellectual slight of hand and hypothetical, but unsubstantiated, arguments that are totally outside of a reality that includes free will. 

Case in point is the article "Legalize Drugs Now! an Analysis of the Benefits of Legalized Drugs," which was printed in the American Journal of Economics and Sociology. Ms. Cussen makes the assumptions that crime rates would fall, quality of life would be improved, and taxpayers would be relieved of a major burden. Maybe this would be a case in an utopian world where drug use only effects the user. 

Ms. Cussen makes some very big presuppositions in her opinions. She assumes: 

1. That drug users only hurt themselves
2. That legalization will lower the crime rate in a meaningful way
3. That lower prices for drugs will mean less users, And
4. That the government will see a net profit from taxing the sale of drugs and associated paraphernalia.

1- It strikes me that one justification of the main argument was the assumption and attitude that drug use only harms the user. This idea goes against the things that I have observed in the practical application of life. Some of the main side effects of drug use are heightened paranoia, violent inclinations and reactions, dulled decision making skills, sacrificing anything to feed the addiction, and with some substances, withdrawal symptoms that rack the body so hard as to be fatal. Any of these things can result in harm to those around or living with a drug user.

Arguments for the legalization of drugs often assume that human beings exist within a vacuum. All humans hold influence with someone simply because interaction is an unavoidable attribute of life. Even silent observation of an individual influences our perceptions of that person and we at times subconsciously pick up mannerisms and habits. One of the observable distinctions of human civilization is that part of being human is that we slowly become like those we hang around and interact with to form a distinct local and natural culture.

2- Lower Crime rate? Only on paper. Just because the legal system doesn't call something a crime doesn't mean that it isn't harmful to the people that participate in it or that the activity is not detrimental to society as a whole. While the posted crime rate would lower, the activity will still remain and the collateral issues stemming from drug use will continue to increase. But hey! as long as the bar charts aren't as scary these people will be able to live with themselves.

Further many of the criminals in our jails on low level drug crimes have those charges as a result of plea bargains. A plea bargain is a deal with the prosecutor which results in violent crimes being turned into lesser charges. This blanket pardoning does not take this into consideration. As a result the streets of many cities will also be flooded with many offenders that will have no rehabilitative support. This brings me to the next point!

3- While I agree with the assessment that drug sales has become an $80bil a year problem that our government spends $10bil a year fighting, it is painfully true that the government would NOT see a net profit from legalizing and taxing these drugs. The rate of medical issues resulting from drug use, impact to productivity and quality, and reduced quality of life that results from addiction will far outweigh any monetary gains. 

4- What net profit is there? The entire illegal drug trade grosses $80bil a year. Even now as drugs are illegal, an article posted by Recovery Ranch, an addictions recovery organization based in Tennessee that treats a myriad of behavioral disorders, sights a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) report that shows a combined societal cost of $559 billion per year due to addictions to alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs. Since the government and taxpayer in many levels will remain responsible for the fallout of addiction, the cost legalization works out to a net LOSS of $479bil for America while making all addicts become slaves to be harvested through taxation for the financial benefit of the governing authority.

According to this same report, illegal drug addiction and abuse account for a social cost of $181 billion, alcohol abuse and addiction have a social cost of roughly $185 billion each year, while tobacco addiction has a social cost of roughly $193 billion a year. When combined, the costs for these three categories of abuse are what equal about $559 billion per year.

The middle ground of prescription medical use of drugs, though extremely shaky and prone to abuse, is the only possible middle ground. In the case of this argument only in the case of drugs that have the following  characteristics: They are not derived from regulated legal drugs, Naturally occur in nature, and Prove to have medicinal properties after refinement should even be considered for legalization and should be subjected to the same standards as all other legal drugs for medicinal use.

My final conclusion is that drugs should not be legalized. 

If we would look at this from a Biblically Literate Christian point of view we will see that many verses that apply to drug use can be found in the Bibles verses. 

First of all we have Gal 5:20 which tells us those who practice sorcery/witchcraft will not inherit the kingdom of God. Witchcraft in this verse was translated from the Greek word, "Pharmakia" the same word we get pharmacy from. This is telling us that the use of substances for the expressed purpose of changing our mental state is considered sin by the standards of the Bible and therefore should be by those who follow Christ's teachings.

There is also Matthew 5 with the parable of the talents charging us with the responsibility to care for what we are granted. More explicitly there is 1 Corinthians 3:16–17 which states:

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple

Drugs devastate the mind and body, thus by definition desecrating and destroying the temple God has knitted together for us from before we were born.

Along with this are the several verses in Timothy and Proverbs exhorting us to be sober minded. A clear mental state is such a blessing to those ho posses it. We should not throw it away lightly in our own lives or in our society among the people.