The moralistic dichotomy of “good” and “bad” drugs suggests the legal status of drugs can and should be based on how harmful drugs can be.
Meanwhile, alcohol and caffeine are two drugs that are federally legal and socially accepted for regular consumption, despite both having potential health hazards if consumed in excess.
Though the government justifies drug-war logic as a means to discourage drug use, this rarely — if ever — actually works.
From my perspective, the dichotomy of “good” versus “bad” drugs hurts other adjacent drug reform movements treatment and cocaine for anesthesia.
As advocates of social justice and drug reform alike, I believe we have to extend the rights of cannabis consumers to other drug consumers who are routinely criminalized by drug-war-focused policing.
Steps toward ending the drug war as we know it are possible and within our reach.