History of Feminism

Alcohol is an extremely addictive drug, with little medicinal benefit. Should it be illegal?

I do not support criminalization of drug use, period. Too many people are going to jail already for things that they shouldn't. Instead of criminalizing usage, put money into addiction and treatment programs. Put money into local parks, recreation areas, alternatives. Maybe even awareness campaigns (and not drug war scare tactics like DARE, but instead honest appraisals of health issues). That will do far more to reduce harm from drug use than criminalization ever will.

Second, I don't support drugs like heroin, crack, methamphetamine, etc., being used in a non-medicinal setting. They should not be freely purchased and available like alcohol or marijuana are. They are extremely addictive, and we are not in a place societally where usage of those drugs will likely be an occasional thing. Addiction is primarily environmental, and usage of those drugs habitually is reinforced by crippling debt, poverty, abuse, etc. However, we cannot criminalize them, as it serves to not only drive use underground, but it also worsens all of the previously mentioned problems. If you want to criminalize mass producers and distributors, fine. Maybe very light sentences for small-time dealers; unfortunately, many of them deal simply for lack of any other economic options. I'd almost rather not criminalize dealing under a certain threshold at all.

Third, I do support full legalization of the psychedelic class of drugs. I have yet to find one that is harmful at anything approaching normal doses, and as we already discussed, they can be extremely beneficial. Responsibility can be left to the user, as not only are they non-addictive and much less harmful than an already legal drug, alcohol, they naturally prevent harmful habitual use (like multiple times a week). The drugs have a huge tolerance spike after use; for instance, most experienced psychonauts will tell you that you need to wait at least a month before taking something like acid or shrooms again to get the full experience (though they can be used directly afterwards, just to much diminished effect). Also, they encourage responsible, empathetic behavior--studies that have been done show large improvement in societal relations after usage, like you mentioned earlier. Society would do well to not only legalize but encourage usage of those drugs.