Heroin should be made legal

Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine , should be made legal and subject to standards of purity similar to most commercial food products and pharmaceuticals. In debates of legalizing drugs such as marijuana, both advocates and opponents refer to Heroin as the "hardest of drugs". It is often assumed without saying that virtually all would agree that Heroin is one of the most dangerous illicit drugs, and one only the staunchest opponents of prohibition would even consider legalizing. This commonly held position is flawed in that Heroin is not exceptionally dangerous compared to many more popular drugs, both licit and illicit, and should be legalized regardless of the legal statuses of other drugs. One of the most commonly cited and misunderstood side effect of Heroin is the infamous overdose. The overwhelming majority of alleged overdoses can be accredited to impurities within the Heroin itself and the mixing of Heroin and other drugs. Heroin has a very high LD-50 compared to to the therapeutic dose needed to induce euphoria. One would in fact need to administer six to nine times their "normal" dose in order to induce a true overdose. Even if this factor were to be utterly ignored, Heroin overdose is remarkably easy to treat. A simple injection of nalorphine is usually adequate in preventing death via overdose. When comparing the risks of Heroin overdose to the risks of overdose by other drugs such as Alcohol and Cocaine, it is clear that overdose "problem" associated with Heroin is not particularly sinister, unavoidable, or even inherently deadly. Legalizing Heroin and subjugating it to regulation and a standard of purity would eliminate the deaths caused by impure Heroin and serve to reduce other health risks. http://www.drugpolicy.org... http://www.ukcia.org... Some commonly cited problems associated with Heroin are the allegedly inherent health risks, such as HIV, Hepatitis, vein damage, lung infections, liver damage, oral decay and other maladies. However, virtually every major side effect can be attributed to either impurity, improper administration, or environmental factors. Legalization would have a huge impact on combating the problems associated with not only with Heroin itself, but also on reducing the environmental factors associated with Heroin use. If legalized and regulated to a medical standard of purity, Heroin would not only be pure and biologically safe, but would be remarkably cheap as well. Heroin prices are inflated by the black market at levels approaching 1000%, which is one of the primary causes of destitution among addicts. Many addicts are forced to stoop to theft and other crime in order to fund their habit. However, Heroin use does not necessarily entail criminal behavior. In fact, In a Liverpool Heroin clinic, an experimental prescription based system found people who were getting steady supplies of clean Heroin were 93% less likely to commit property crimes. http://www.ukcia.org... http://findarticles.com... http://www.boogieonline.com... Furthermore, as the prices of the drug go down and the purity goes up, drug users tend to be less inclined to subject themselves to intravenous administration. This can be demonstrated by the Heroin epidemic among United States troops during the Vietnam War. When soldier had access to cheap and pure Heroin, over 90% smoked, snorted, or administered it orally. After military crackdowns on Heroin usage and possession, injection became commonplace in an attempt to maximize efficiency and reduce costs. In this sense, cheap and pure Heroin would greatly reduce the problems associated with IV administration in that fewer people would subjugate themselves to IV administration. http://www.druglibrary.org... The major and very real risk involved with Heroin is its addictive quality. It is on the same level of addictiveness as cigarettes and other tobacco products, although being comparatively harmless both to individuals and society compared to said products. Several studies have shown that fast food and junk foods can have addictive effects that rival that of Heroin, and yet pure Heroin is likely a more benign substance than most junk foods. http://en.wikipedia.org... http://www.nydailynews.com... This is not meant as a general argument against all prohibition, or an argument in favor of legalizing all drugs. However, prohibiting Heroin is clearly unnecessary, and legalization bears very little risk to society or individual health. Unbeknown to even hardcore drug legalization advocates, Heroin is not the "hard, dangerous drug" both sides tend to acknowledge it as being. Rather, it is one of the more benign drugs, and utterly incomparable to drugs such as Cocaine, Methamphetamine, Tobacco, or even alcohol in the category of physical and psychological harm.