• Question: Would our world be where it is now without illegal drugs or do we not need them?

    Asked by franky.s to Aaron, David, Elaine, Sarah, Zoe on 15 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by sloth-savior.
    • Photo: David Foley

      David Foley answered on 15 Nov 2014:

      Complicated question. A simple answer would be that drugs, legal or illegal, are not needed for humans to survive – we did so for many thousands of years.

      You also need to remember that drugs that are illegal now were not always so. Heroin was common in the Victorian era – in fact Sir Arthur Conan Doyle writes about Sherlock Holmes indulging in the practice. Some drugs were and are used for religious purposes. Heroin was found in childrens cough medicine – amongst other places!

      The reverse is also true – America prohibited alcohol from 1920-1933, but such prohibitions were not confined to just America.

      That said, many scientists throughout history have been “inspired” by drug use (sometimes legal, sometimes not) and some scientists still believe it helps them (see Nobel Prize winner Kary Mullis for an example). Personally I think the risks associated with unregulated drug use far outweigh the benefits.

    • Photo: Sarah Ashwood

      Sarah Ashwood answered on 15 Nov 2014:

      Humans survived for millions of years without the use of drugs. The main use of them has been to prolong life or reduce symptoms that are causing pain/making life difficult.

      The difficulty with illegal drugs is that people who use them don’t know the harm that they are causing to their bodies. Many of the drugs that are illegal are defined that way due to the negative effects – loss of brain function, severe addiction, confusion etc.

      However many people use these drugs in the mediation of pain – cannabis for example has been used to treat chronic pain in terminal cancer patients in certain parts of the world.

      So in some ways, the drive to eliminate the use of illegal drugs could be seen as one of the reasons why science has developed so many painkillers without all the serious side effects. Similarly drugs used to help ease addiction or anxiety are being prescribed to illegal drug users who are struggling to quit using.

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