The libertarian arguments for legalising drugs make sense, but it's not safety and freedom of will we need to battle against, it's the government's hypocritical stance on alcohol and tobacco...
Channel 4′s recent drugs programming proved a couple of things. The first is that drugs are undeniably interesting. The second is that the issue of drugs is important to many people (comment pieces on ‘Drugs Live’ were flooding the net last week). The fact that the programme achieved such popularity is a reflection of the general public’s attitude: over the last few years, the calls for legalisation have been getting louder, especially amongst young people, and they’re not just coming from those who like to get off their face every once in a while (or more frequently).
The most convincing argument for drug legalisation is the simplest, and it can be found radiating from the realms of libertarianism. Surely, this argument goes, if a person is to have domain over one thing in life it should be their own body, and this includes having control of the substances that they ingest. It seems only natural that an individual should be the one deciding what goes into their bodies, not the government.
