I hope I don’t get in another big back and forth argument with a Libertarian, but since you asked,
no, I don’t think recreational drugs should be legal, because they, to a smaller or greater degree, lower your inhibitions, make you irrational, make you comatose, actually deliver brain damage, make you stupid, make you paranoid, and decrease your motor skills. When you commit crime, or lose your mind, we have to pick up the pieces. It is morally wrong to deliberately make yourself more likely to indulge in criminal behavior, and it is morally wrong to deliberately make yourself more likely to become insane or useless.
yes, I know that daily pot use will do far less damage than daily meth use. I realize it is a matter of degree.
yes, I know there are supposed to be a few people who get high all the time and still apparently are doing well. The exception doesn’t make the rule.
no, I don’t want to wait until the rape or the neglect or the accident or the murder or the robbery, and then arrest the drug abuser. I in fact think we should make it illegal to make ourselves irrational, comatose, hallucinatory, and/or stupid. Like we arrest drunk drivers before they cause an accident. I think that’s the right thing to do.
no, I don’t think alcohol should be illegal, and that’s not because I drink, because I don’t care for it. Alcohol is the ONLY drug, if used in moderation, which does not do any of the above and can actually benefit your health. I don’t think drunkenness should be legal, and I’ll put .10 blood alcohol as where I’d put the legal limit.
no, people don’t use other drugs in moderation. It’s theoretically possible to take one hit of marijuana or one grain of cocaine, but nobody does that, and I get irritated trying to pretend they do. Whereas people have a glass or two of wine, or a beer or two, routinely.
yes, if there is an actual medical purpose to a drug, like meth for 24 hour fliers in combat or pot for glaucoma sufferers, I’d support it (prescribed) if the benefits outweigh the risks.
Anyone who thinks otherwise, answer me this, would you leave your three year old with a babysitter who is snorting coke, or shooting heroin, or sucking on a bong? No you would not. Because you know better. Whereas you’d leave her with a babysitter who is having a glass of wine with her dinner. Because you know that’s fine.
We have a winner!
This is a straw man because you preclude the condition that the babysitter may be an alcohol abuser too. That fact is I wouldn't want any drug abuser, alcohol abuser babysitting for me. Heck, I don't want one that abuses sunflower seeds baby sitting them either.
Marijuana should be legal. Heroin, meth, cocaine shouldn't be. The difference between marijuana and alcohol is << than the difference between marijuana and heroin, meth, cocaine.
You also probably don't know that there are many different types of Marijuana strains all bred for their distinctive highs. There are strains that one shouldn't even consider if you have a natural tendency to paranoia while others are more effective than 2 mg of lorazapam before bedtime. Others still will 'wake you up' to the reality we choose to forget and ignore while straight.
I know as many pot smokers as drinkers. The only difference is the drinkers get dui’s and are more likely to fight. My observation thru life is kids get on hard drugs because the guy dealing pot has them too. If booze came from a meth dealer it too would be called a gateway drug. Btw all my friends have jobs and don’t vote for democrats.