Michael Kasper

Mrs.Dougherty

AP Language & Composition

12.17.18

Drugs For All!

In America, we pride ourselves on the idea that we are a free people; and we are. But

not. As the list stands, both alcohol and tobacco, two notorious killers, are completely legal

substances, and marijuana is slowly following suit. All others, such as: methamphetamine,

cocaine, steroids, et cetera, are still illegal, each with great repercussions. Knowing this, the

lack of legality for each product is affecting thousands of people per year; through the lack of

professional manufacturing techniques, the small epidemics that the pushers start by

introducing them to kids, the general misinformation surrounding drug use. As it stands, all

drugs, whether they be good or bad, should be open to those with the desire to use them,

just as alcohol and tobacco are; age restricted, of course, but legal nonetheless.

Tobacco has been a legal product in the Americas ever since it was imported with the

cash hungry settlers at Jamestown; a product which prompted them to enact a law which

would require the settlers to grow actual food. It had even been socially acceptable for

children to smoke it; evidenced by its prevalence in 1950s cartoons, and advertisements

containing such characters as Fred Flintstone, Bugs Bunny, and Santa Claus. Yes, Santa; the
same jolly old man with his cherry-red nose and bags of boxes containing everything from

toys to coal; endorsed the use of tobacco-based products. Of course, in the mindset of 1950s

America, this was a social norm. People were not well informed about the effects of tobacco,

and it was used freely by those who desired it’s signature taste; a fatal mistake for their lungs

and teeth. Since it is a somewhat acceptable practice as of 2018, why can we not allow adults

to, say, smoke opioids? Or maybe cocaine? Both had their own legal history in the U.S., but

instead of making them into social norms; they become a mark of an average prisoner,

whether that prison be a containment cell, a hospital bed, or a hole in the earth. It makes no

sense that the tobacco leaf (or fermented fruit products, for that matter) should get all the

glory, especially with the abundance of other, less harmful drugs in existence. Alcohol may

have been cracked down upon in the 1920s for being a product of Satan, but when it’s

legality came into question, the 1920s in America became a very dangerous period; mobsters

like the infamous Al Capone rose to prominence, bootleggers made their own, dangerously

poisonous and impure alcohol and it sold like hotcakes, all while the temperance societies

took a moral high ground. And this drastically changed the political playing field; each group

gained something from the 18th amendment. Capone and the bootleggers saw increased

sales of the moonlight beverage, and the temperance advocates got their laws passed. This is

comparable to the current situation, in which the pushers of drugs make fortunes off of

needy addicts, and the government agencies like the ATF make similar fortunes by busting

them. It’s a vicious cycle of impediments to the freedom of the people, and the government

is constantly infringing upon them. For what? Nothing but some paper, which will lose it’s

value as America progresses into the next decade.

 Now, it may also come as a surprise that there is another, even more legal drug with

its own repercussions; and it, like tobacco before it, is directed straight at most of American

society. It is somewhat addictive, and it comes in many different shapes and sizes and

flavours. Designated as C8H10N4O2, or caffeine, it is a drug in its own right. The consumption

of caffeine even comes with the ever prevalent symptoms of withdrawal. This taps into a

huge market, getting children high off manufactured sugars, providing adults with their fix

of extra energy out of roasted beans, and giving those same people a taste of what drug use,

specifically that of the stimulant, can do. When found in coffee, it makes around 4 billion

dollars a year; chocolate makes 100 billion. Think about what the marijuana industry could

make; California makes almost 3 billion dollars; this, if taken further, could easily make

around 30~50 billion when applied to the rest of America. The same idea is applicable to all

drugs; millions, if not billions of dollars, are being passed up by both the government and big

businesses, who refuse to take part in it’s legalisation. Sports players, if given the option,

could potentially improve their performance with the application of steroids; heroin and

meth addicts would pay flat rates to be high off their respective products instead of seeking a

dealer to pay ludicrous amounts of money to get their fix. That isn’t to say that drugs like

these should not be restricted in some way. Minors should be unable to purchase these

things for themselves, as they can caffeine. They should be able to make rational decisions

regarding the consumption of these drugs, and their effects on the body, before being

allowed to legally obtain them. 21 is usually a safe age for this practice, like alcohol

consumption, as many are close to, or have, finished schooling. They can weigh the costs,
and develop a reasonable decision. There is even a helpful resource with which they can

make said informed decisions: the internet.

Overall, drugs have a level of danger to them, but the danger doesn’t necessarily come

from the drugs directly; it comes from the effects of their lack of legality. Many people

nowadays are too afraid to let people have this freedom due to the physical effects, but must

we forget that some of the most potent drugs are the most legal; the government even prints

its own metaphorical drugs. Money, power, even freedom itself is drug-like in it’s effects:

when consumed, it provides one with a heightened, euphoric state of mind, a lack of

consumption is akin to physically and psychologically dying, an overdose can lead to illness

or death. What’s keeping them from being illegal? Nothing, as they are not conventional,

they are not tangible, they are not in opposition because many people don’t see their adverse

effects until they use them; the people of the world are corrupted by their own drugs, and

they are what make people tick. If the adverse effect of these notably abused drugs is legal, as

well as the use of tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine; why are we denied the right to decide

whether or not the other, illicit drugs are actually legal consumables? Because freedom to

life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is our natural right as citizens of this great nation,

the right to do as one pleases to their body without interference from the governmental

body is a necessity for said rights to function properly, and can be applied to other ventures,

like the argument for abortion, or that of firearms; the government is unnecessarily sticking

itself where it doesn’t belong, in order to regulate the lives of its citizens and further a

mysterious agenda; after we had fought so hard to provide people with a true liberty from
the tyranny of the monarchical system nearly 250 years ago; after we fought to keep

ourselves united due to the tensions between northern and southern states nearly 160 years

ago; the government wishes to re-invigorate both ideas in a new way; exerting control over

citizens, and creating divides over controversial issues to maintain power; and it works.

Granting these freedoms though could, and most likely would, relieve some of the pressure

and tension created by the government, and help make that first step into the creation of a

real democracy, and possibly realise a new purpose to the existence of drugs and their usage

in our everyday lives, whether we choose to use them or not. And to those who argue that all

drugs should be illegal, here is the definition of a drug: a chemical substance used in

treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or

mental well-being; this is including ALL drugs, and it makes clear that this argument is not

black & white, like we’re told it is.