Why are some drugs legal (like alcohol) and
other drugs that aren't as dangerous (like cannabis) illegal?
Firstly, it is important to acknowledge
that different drugs affect different people in different ways. Even though
some people can use cannabis and not experience any major issues, there are
others who will have great problems with this drug. Comparing one drug to
another is problematic – all drug use, whether it be legal, illegal or
pharmaceutical entails some degree of risk …
With that out of the way, back to your
question …
A range of different substances have been consumed
for medical, religious and recreational reasons for thousands of years. Western
society started to make non-medical drug use illegal in the late 19th and early
20th centuries and when this began to happen, a range of factors determined
whether a drug was to be controlled by the full force of law or through taxation
and regulations such as age restrictions.
The health or social harm of a drug is not
the only the reason why some substances are illegal and others are not. If it were,
alcohol and tobacco would surely be made illegal and some illegal drugs may
even have some legal restrictions relaxed. Societal attitudes, often reinforced
by the news media, moral panics, racism and powerful commercial interests have
been proven to play a major part in why we have the drug laws we do …
If we look at some specific examples across
time, it may help to illustrate that many of the laws in this area were not
originally passed due to concern about health or social harm related to a
particular drug.
In the United States, the first drug law
was passed in 1875 banning Chinese opium-smoking dens in San Francisco. The
reason cited was that women and young girls, as well as "young men of
respectable family", were being induced to smoke opium. No action was taken
against the producers of opium-based 'cure-all' medicines, which were widely
taken by white Americans. The first Australian laws in this area also
restricted the smoking of opium whilst allowing the sale and consumption of
opiate medicines. Historians have asserted that the primary purpose of the laws
was clearly to discourage the entry of Chinese people to Australia, rather than
to restrict the importation of opium itself.
In 1937, once again in the US, moral
campaigners were able to make cannabis an illegal drug with the introduction of
the Marijuana Tax Act. They were able to do this with the help of newspapers that
successfully created great fear and concern amongst the general community about
the impact of cannabis on American youth, including stories of cannabis smoking
Mexican immigrants seducing white women. The ensuing public anxiety led to the
drug being banned. Around this time, cannabis was not consumed on a large scale
in Australia, although it was available for sale as cigarettes called 'Cigares
de Joy' until the 1920s. Partly to comply with international pressure, cannabis
use and importation was prohibited in 1926.
The United Nations drafted the Single
Convention on Narcotic Drugs in 1961, effectively criminalising drug production,
cultivation, possession and supply across the globe, even though few countries
actually experienced domestic drug problems at this time. In the late 1960s and
early 1970s many countries including Australia passed laws to enforce the UN
Convention.
Unfortunately there is no simple reason to
explain why some drugs are legal and others are not. It is quite clear,
however, that the legal nature of a particular substance is not always related
to the harms associated with the drug. When you closely examine the original
reasons behind the introduction of specific laws, they often have to do with a
range of historical factors, whether they be based on moral panic, racism or
greed. Over time, as we have learned more about the harms associated with a
particular substance, the reasons behind laws may actually make more sense in
some cases, while in others the decisions may be difficult to justify.
First published: April 2018