People say that tobacco products and alcohol are no worse than illicit drugs, and that because a couple of substances are legal the United States should make all substances legal? Well, there are differences and similarities to these three types of products. Some similarities are, they all can damage the human body, they all are addictive, and they all can be causes of death. As for the difference the drugs and tobacco are more addictive than alcohol. “The fact that some dangerous substances are legal does not mean that all dangerous substances should also be legal — especially when there are significant differences between the substances in question. Clearly, alcohol and tobacco can be quite harmful,” (Roques)
“Tobacco kills over 400,000 people each year in the United States, and the British medical journal, Lancet, estimates that tobacco is the cause of death for 20 percent of the people in the developed world,” (Roques). “Nevertheless, a given dose of cocaine or crack is far more dangerous than a drink of alcohol. Alcohol has an addiction rate of 10 percent, whereas cocaine has an addiction rate as high as 75 percent,” (U.S. Department of Justice).
What I think people forget about is, it takes more consuming of alcohol and tobacco, to get these substances to damage the body to the point of extreme impairment or death. Whereas, illicit drugs it takes just a little amount to get to an extreme damage and if the drug is laced with another drug; then the effects of that could be an instant kill or drug overdose. “When cocaine is combined with marijuana, it can be deadly. According to a study in Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, an increase in heart rate due to cocaine was markedly enhanced if preceded by smoking marijuana,” (Marijuana Research Review). “A study in American Review of Respiratory Diseases found that marijuana smoke is as irritating as tobacco smoke; when used together, marijuana and tobacco cause the small oxygen-exchanging parts of the lung to shed cells that first become inflamed,” (Marijuana Research Review).
Also, People forget just how addictive drugs and alcohol actually are. I always thought alcohol was more addictive than drugs because alcohol is taken in through the mouth and is spread through a person’s body as if drinking anything else or eating food. Whereas, drugs is just smoke or a little pinch of powder or sometimes even a shot. But that smoke and little pinch of powder is way more addictive than a couple of shots of alcohol.
“A study in Drug and Alcohol Dependence found that cannabis [marijuana] users react very slowly in performing motor tasks and suffer disability in personal, social and vocational areas. They also indicate a higher score for neurotic and psychotic behavior,” (Marijuana Research Review). From this reference, it seems that drugs and alcohol have the same effect. So, why not legalize the drugs but yet again, the drugs causes the effects listed above way quicker than alcohol. And drugs are still more harmful.
“Microbiologist Tom Klein of the University of South Florida reports, he found that THC [tetrahydrocannabinol — the active ingredient in marijuana] suppresses some immune system responses and enhances others,”(Daniel P. Ray). People think Marijuana is what helps fight certain diseases, but actually there is a drug that has the same effect on some diseases it’s called, Marinol, a legal version of marijuana. According to the United States DEA, “A pharmaceutical product, Marinol, is widely available through prescription. It comes in the form of a pill and is also being studied by researchers for suitability via other delivery methods, such as an inhaler or patch. The active ingredient of Marinol is synthetic THC, which has been found to relieve the nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy for cancer patients and to assist with loss of appetite with AIDS patients,” (DEA).
No one can stop people from smoking, these people made the choice to start smoking and they made the choice to damage their bodies. If they want to slowly kill themselves throughout their life, than let them. Why not do the same with drugs? Well, if drugs were legalized the drug overdose situations would rise up. Since they are legalized, some people who probably have never done drugs would want to try the drugs, which, there’s nothing bad about that since it’s legal. But some people might be stupid about it (or simply don’t know how to properly consume the drugs) and take too much at one time and overdose. Tobacco takes awhile to cause a death, it slowly damages the body over years of tobacco intake, but drugs can do it within hours or less.
Drug Legalization 