The question of whether or not illegal drugs like cocaine and marijuana should be legal, I believe, is a false one.
I think that prior to asking the question of whether or not these drugs should be legalized, we should be asking if it would be a moral undertaking in the first place. There are a number of other questions that should be asked prior to unleashing the beast of drugs like heroin and crack cocaine as a publicly available and legal recreational drug much like beer and alcohol.
Other Questions I Think We Should Be Asking Prior Any Consideration of legalizing illicit drugs are listed below.
- How will we handle school children using crack and heroin?
- Will we lower prosecution and criminal penalties for street dealers once legalized?
- Will a person be able to purchase cocaine for the corner store?
- Is the savings that will be accumulated from not housing as many prisoners as a result of drug legalization be worth it?
- Will legalization of substances like meth and cocaine cause street prices to go up? If so, will there be in an increase in burglaries, bank robberies, and aggravated robbery cases?
- What will be the long term effects on the normalization of these dangerous drugs in the public psyche?
- Once legalized, do we free all prisoners convicted of drug crimes that are no longer illegal?
These are only a few of the questions circulating in my mind on this issue. I believe these questions, along with others like them, should be swirling in the minds of anyone who happens to give brain time to this conversation, issue, and movement. Personally, I think its a bad idea laden with well place assumptions and good conservative meaning, but no. Hell no.
