What makes a drug illegal?

(Just a quick note before i dive in; I do not condone nor support the use of cannabis or any other illegal substance).

What is a drug? What qualifies a drug to be banned or labeled as an illegal substance? Questions such as these are what rushed through my mind as I listened to debates concerning the legalization of the drug  Cannabis (a.k.a Hash; a.k.a Ganga; a.k.a Reefe; a.k.a Grass; a.k.a Pot; a.k.a Weed; you get the picture!) Even if I was from another planet just by looking at the number of nicknames it has, it is clear this must be a popular drug!
The history of Cannabis has many similarities to that of Alcohol. In the 1920s, during the years of prohibition, alcohol was deemed to be an illegal substance and of no benefit to the citizens of this country. Nevertheless, it was eventually legalized and has grown to be a large influence in society today. Many people argue that the main reason the government legalized alcohol is to tap into the lucrative market and increase federal income through the taxation of the drug (formally known as sin tax). It is important to not that before its legalization, speakeasies were known to be lucrative (illegal) bars where the sale and consumption of alcohol took place.
Fast forward almost a century and the discussion has shifted to whether there should be a widespread legalization of cannabis for recreational purposes. I can not help but to think, why now? Could it be that the government want to 'cash in' on the lucrative tax income that could be obtained through the legal sale of this popular drug?




Now to switch gears and approach the issue from a scientific perpspective.
According to Dictionary.com, a drug is a substance that has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body, in particular. Therefore using this definition as a guideline, many of us engage in drug use almost everyday. Does that make us all bad people? I hope not! But I do think the line that discriminates between a good or a bad drug is blurred.
 Some people say a bad drug is one that has adverse effects. But many drugs given by doctors to their patients have negative side-effects; radiation treatment is used to fight cancer, but can have devastating effects on the patient. Another argument that someone might make is that a bad drug has no positive effect on the user. The rebuttal to this is the mental effects experienced by the user. In the example of weed, the THC in the drug increases the level of dopamine in the brain and creates a euphoric happy feeling.
There is some good new though, there are actually clinical trial in process testing the use of mollies for the treatment of PTSD patients and those with high anxiety related to terminal diseases. The normal effects of the molly are feelings of euphoria, intimacy with others and lowered anxiety. Symptoms of PTSD can be negated by the molly and overcome the depression and anxiety experienced by sufferers. (Trials are in the early stages so kids do not try this at home.)

One other thought for you to mull over; while sex is not considered a drug by most people it almost has the same physiological effects that many drugs exhibit. During sex your heart rate jumps to dangerous tachycardia, blood vessels swell from hypothalamic electrical firing causing excessive production of nitric oxide. Testosterone, oxytocin and adrenaline are among some of the hormones released throughout the body are one nears orgasm, causing huge increases in metabolism and causing blood to travel from the vein system to the gut. Your senses are heightened to acute levels. All this heightened stimulation of the body causes severe exhaustion. Despite all this sex is an action enjoyed and craved by many people. We only have to look to celebrities such as Tiger Woods and Charlie Sheen for examples of people who have become addicted to sex and require some sort of therapy. Should we then put sex on the illegal substance/activity list?

Is an illegal substance simply what societal norms tell us are bad? Maybe there is some other determining factor that causes the government to label a drug as  unlawful.



What do you think??

Comments

  1. I will want to think that society's attitude towards drugs are strongly based on its additive nature. While the chemical effect of most drugs might be similar to other habits we engage in, the effect it has on some who would do just about anything to get a hold of the next fix can be scary. While we can be addicted to almost anything, being addicted to drugs is something which will require an intervention to break and until we can adequately handle the addictive property od drugs which are not medically necessary, it is better for them to be illegal.

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  2. @Peter a: Like you I would like to think that the addictive nature of illegal substances is what qualifies them to be labeled as so. However if this was the only criteria then doctors would not prescribe drugs such as Vicodin to their patients knowing that they may potentially become addicted to it. Addiction arises from the users dependency on the substance. Dopamine and serotonin are neurotransmitters that trigger feelings of euphoria and reduce anxiety, addiction arises when the user becomes reliant on the effects these hormones. There exist many substances illegal and legal that illicit a significant release of these neurotransmitters and therefore have the potential to cause users to become addicted.

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  3. You raise a very good argument and I personally believe that there is very little difference between alcohol and cannabis in terms of a drug. The legalization of alcohol clearly shows how much legislation is passed for political reasons. Legislation all over the world is made up of things that are not socially or economically efficient, but are passed because of political benefit. Alcohol is widely considered a socially acceptable drug and since being re-legalized it has become hugely popular with a massively powerful industry driving it. This industry has generated considerable political power due to its wealth and makes the idea of prohibition now laughable. Despite the huge benefits of alcohol (profits & enjoyment of consumption) there are huge costs inflicted by drunken behavior. Despite these massive cost we still think that alcohol is a good drug because that is what is socially acceptable.
    Now in the case of cannabis, over the past 100 years most people would consider it socially unacceptable to consume. People aged 40-60 link cannabis to the hippy movement and are strongly against legalizing it. This group of baby boomers is large, with considerable political power and are very set in their ways. As time goes on we move in to a more tolerable world (race, gender, sexuality), and in this world cannabis is becoming more socially acceptable. In my opinion cannabis will be legalized in the not so distant future. The battle it faces is still politically based. Governments around the world are trying to crack down on where you can and cannot smoke tobacco, and increasing taxes on cigarettes. It would be political suicide and hypocrisy to try and maintain this firm stance on tobacco while legalizing cannabis. This hypocrisy may slow down the possible legalization.
    Finally the only way in which alcohol and cannabis differ is that consumption of cannabis as a clear (smoky) externality on others which some people fund undesirable. If I was to drink alcohol in the same room as you it would not have a direct affect on (inderectly my action could affect you). Smoking cannabis does affect others in close proximity because of the smoke. Even if the smoke doesn't get the non smokers high, the poor air quality is not good for their health for obvious reasons. This externality of consumption is the another reason why people consider cannabis to be a bad drug and makes legal reform very difficult, especially around where and where you can smoke it.

    Matt

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  4. @Matt: That last point that you brought up is extremely insightful and sheds light on a more interesting issue. Perhaps the reason substances are made illegal or have a more negative connotation is not only because they have adverse affects on the users but because they also seriously impact those in the immediate vicinity negatively

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