Discussion
When you discuss the topic of legalising drugs, it is important to pay attention to both potential advantages and disadvantages of implementing such a legal measure. In this part, we have compiled some of the pros and cons of legalising drugs, and a few ideas about a future world in which all drugs have become legal.
Pros and cons of legalising drugs
In your source material, Text I mostly focuses on the pros of legalising drugs, while Texts II and III offer more arguments against legalising drugs. Text IV offers a historical overview of attitudes to drugs in the UK and the US.
The main pros of legalising drugs presented in the texts are the following ones:
- It will put an end to the deaths caused by the war on drugs, a point made by two former state presidents, Bill Clinton and Ruth Dreifuss (Text I).
- Significant drops in drug use and HIV infections. (Text I)
- Legalising drugs while improving education about the effects of drugs might be more beneficial in controlling drug use. (Texts I and III)
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The future of legalising drugs
Part of your exam assignment is to describe and discuss a world in which all drugs have been fully legalised. The texts included in your exam material can be used as a source of inspiration as they suggest a few potential future scenarios.
A pessimistic scenario suggests that a world in which all drugs have been fully legalised will be a world with considerably more addicts, as indicated by David Cameron in Text III. Furthermore, given that the effect of some drugs is harmful to the brain and people’s mental health, this future world might see an increase in people suffering from depression, apathy, paranoia and psychosis (Text II).
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