The case for legalizing drugs is all but unanswerable

While it is certainly possible that legalisation could see more people take drugs, a drug user’s life would be much safer and healthier than at present. There is no room for speculation here, for we know that a great many users lived highly productive lives before drugs were banned. Until the First World War, when they were introduced under the banner of national security, there were few controls on drugs in the UK or America. Cocaine, morphine and heroin could be bought at the local chemist. Many were users, including William Gladstone, who liked to take a drop of laudanum (an alcoholic tincture of opium) in his coffee before making speeches. Some users had problems, but none had to contend with the inflated prices, health risks and threat of jail faced by users today.

Though politicians like to pretend they embody a moral consensus, there is none on the morality of drug use. Barack Obama has admitted to taking cocaine, while David Cameron refuses to answer the question. Neither has suffered any significant political fall-out.