The War on drugs is the reason why many drugs are illegal for recreational use. Drugs like Marijuana, LSD and Magic Mushrooms that change the state of human consciousness. These drugs have the potential to change the way someone looks at society and strip away the normal state of consciousness for a few hours (Lewis, 2016). Obviously, with changes to consciousness and the way the brain functions, it gives people a new perspective. It not for this reason that the war on drugs was started. A recent article published by Vox states that “The real reason for the war on drugs was to criminalize black people and hippies” (Lopez, 2016). This targeted attack on certain groups was mainly due to the anti-war sentiment that the hippies embraced. Nixon wanted to crack down on the leaders of the anti-war movement but could not do so unless he had reason to under the law. The war on drugs was the way that Nixon could begin to crack down on opposition to the Vietnam War (Lopez, 2016).

While all these drugs are illegal, there are drugs that are legally produced by pharmaceutical companies that have similar effects or are derived from these illegal drugs. For example, cocaine is illegal while Novacaine is legal if prescribed by a doctor under clinical conditions (FDA, 2018). The war on drugs has not reduced drug use or stopped teenagers from using drugs. In fact it has actually increased teenage use of drugs not to mention that it violates many basic human rights in it’s enforcement (Williams, 2019). The fact that substances that have been proven to be harmful to human health are legal to purchase and consume, such as alcohol and tobacco, while other substances are illegal for human consumption is immoral. There is no other species in nature that restricts what other members of that species can consume it is unnatural to do that and immoral as it restricts a person’s free will. Also the fact that not obeying will have said person thrown into prison for a certain amount of time that varies from country to country. This is why the war on drugs is immoral.

Bibliography

FDA, 2018. FDA Guidelines. [Online]
Available at: https://www.drugs.com/pro/novocain.html
[Accessed 20 April 2019].

Lewis, M., 2016. The Gaurdian. [Online]
Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/15/lsd-research-brain-neuroscience-human-nature-psychedelic
[Accessed 20 April 2019].

Lopez, G., 2016. Vox. [Online]
Available at: https://www.vox.com/2016/3/22/11278760/war-on-drugs-racism-nixon
[Accessed 20 April 2019].

Williams, A., 2019. Equal Times. [Online]
Available at: https://www.equaltimes.org/the-war-on-drugs-is-ineffective#.XLyRC_ZuJPY
[Accessed 21 April 2019].