Legalize All Drugs!
Yes, you read that correctly. I strongly recommend that we legalize all drugs, immediately, worldwide.
No, I do not advocate this because I want to start getting high. And while I would appreciate ready access to certain medications, the reason has nothing to do with recreational use—more on this later.
Let's start with the "war on drugs." We spend millions annually on an utterly futile mission. As long as there are people who want illegal drugs, there will be dealers who will find ways to supply them. It's a war that we will never win. So, why waste that money? Let the addicts have all they want!
Why? Because it becomes a Darwinian means of population control. It would be far cheaper for us to bury the overdosers than to try and prevent them from overdosing. And likely more would overdose than otherwise if people had free access to drugs, and that's not a bad thing.
Oh, I can hear the bleeding hearts bemoaning all of those addicts who might have been saved, who might have gone on to lead normal, productive lives. Come on, what percentage of addicts do you really believe are worth saving? I'll be blunt: addicts are stupid people—well, more stupid than most. And since many of them resort to crime in order to feed their addiction, imagine how much less crime there'd be!
Yes, some good folk may be injured or killed as a result of addicts trying to drive or whatever, but I'd argue it wouldn't be significantly more than under current circumstances, and might possibly even less since crime would be reduced. As it is, there will always be some collateral damage—there's no avoiding it. Certainly our current tactics to fight drugs doesn't show any signs of preventing collateral damage.
Now, here's my personal interest in this outlandish proposal. Thanks to crooked pharmacies, crooked doctors, and the addicts they've been feeding, opioids are nearly impossible to get anymore. And I have a legitimate need for them: among other things, a pair of collapsed discs in my neck ensure that I'm in pain almost constantly.
"Oh, you might become addicted," doctors offer as an excuse to keep the feds' eyes off of them. Well, let's poke a hole in this claim. First, a couple of decades ago, I was on the maximum dose of the strongest opioid for nearly three years to deal with a botched knee arthroscopy—the doctor nicked a nerve, which was excruciating. When I didn't need the painkiller anymore, I just stopped taking it. No withdrawal, no cravings, no adverse reaction of any sort. If that didn't get me addicted, nothing would. Anyway, even on the off-chance I did become addicted, I don't have much time left on the planet, so what fucking difference would it make?