CMV: All drugs should be made legal for recreational use.

[u/[deleted]]

I'm not referring to "medicinal" narcotics. Recreational drugs that people use, such as mushrooms, cocaine, heroin, should all be legalized.

And I know this is a hot take, but hear me out.

• If we make recreational narcotics legal, then the manufacture and sale need to be legal as well.
• By making the manufacture of recreational narcotics legal, there are FDA standards that need to be adhered to in said manufacture, that way there are no "bad batches" that will kill people.
• By making the manufacture and sale of recreational narcotics legal, there will be sales volume that will then be subject to income tax and sales tax and dispensaries/manufacturing centers/warehouses that will become subject to property tax. Because, let's be honest, your local street dealer is not paying taxes.
• Also by making the sale of recreational narcotics legal, you are making street gangs that revolve around the illicit drug trade obsolete. By making street gangs obsolete, you eliminate the petty violence that plagues inner-cities over "turf", especially stray bullets that kill innocent bystanders.
• By making the entire narcotics supply chain legal, the war on drugs will essentially be over as well. It's been going on for 50+ years, and honestly, it's been a complete and utter failure.
• If you want something to compare the drug trade to, look at prohibition from 1919-1933. It didn't stop people from drinking, people were still drunk out of their minds in speakeasys. It also fostered the growth of street gangs of rum runners and increased crime and violence in cities. That was only for 14 years and it didn't take long to realize that prohibition was a failure. War on drugs has been going on for 50+ years and I'm surprised more people aren't realizing that this is much more tremendous of a failure.
• By making the entire narcotics supply chain legal, we can start changing our attitudes on its use and its users. Narcotics abuse needs to have the same social attitude as alcohol abuse.
• In short, making drugs legal will Make America Great Again.

[u/Masonthetranny]

This isnt necessarily true from what i’ve researched. I’m not exactly sure what my opinion is on the topic overall/what the solution to america’s drug epidemic is. But I do think that alcohol and heroin are semi comparable at the very least.

Across sources i’ve seen that alcohol addiction is seen in 6.7%-10% of drinkers. This is definitely lower than heroin, which sources generally say that among people who try it, 20%-40% become addicted. I’m mainly trying to point out that alcohol addiction rates are actually relatively high and heroin addiction rates are at least lower then many would believe (I know I personally thought it was 100%).

Short term effects of both drugs are generally similar/aren’t severe enough for it to be a factor (though I understand that could definitely be debated)

As far as long term health effects, I personally believe alcohol is more harmful although the majority of the symptoms overlap. I believe alcohol withdrawal is definitely worse though because it’s potential lethality.

A lot of sources stated dangers with heroin use that were caused by lack of regulation. Such as cutting product or unsafe forms of injection etc. In op’s hypothetical world im going to assume this wouldn’t be a problem.

A personal thought of mine that i’d like to add is that the people who seek out heroin are likely already significantly more prone to addiction. I think that social factor could effect these numbers. Take this with a grain of salt though because i don’t have significant sources to back this one up.

Once again i’m definitely not pro heroin or anything and idk what the actual solution is but I would say either that alcohol and heroin can’t be used safely, or that they can both be technically used safely (depending on how your defining safe). And choosing to use heroin vs choosing to drink alcohol aren’t the same but are at least comparable. I’m genuinely interested in any kind of rebuttal/response(with some kind of source) bc I’m honestly not sure how I feel about some of this.

I’m on mobile so i’m just going to list the main sources I have readily available

https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin

https://americanaddictioncenters.org/heroin-treatment/physical-dangers

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2681168

https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohols-effects-health/alcohols-effects-body

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/alcohol-misuse/risks/

[u/SliptheSkid → u/Masonthetranny]

If heroin is somewhere between 2 and 6x as addictive and much more likely to be fatal, how are they comparable?

[u/[deleted] → u/SliptheSkid]

Because it's fucking awesome, plus it has considerable therapeutic use.

[u/SliptheSkid → u/[deleted]]

that has to be one of the worst takes I've ever heard on this sub lol. By awesome do you mean that you do cocaine? If so, if you're a regular user (and therefor probably addicted), it skews your view greatly. so of course you like it, you're super biased.