But this fear in itself cannot, in a free society, be allowed to control the discussion of social policy. In a free society, there must be good reasons to restrict the choice of individuals, reasons sufficiently strong to outweigh the fundamental value of freedom. So deep is this fear of drug taking, however, that people who are liberal in the sense described when it comes to pornography or dangerous sports, will hesitate to take a liberal attitude to drugs, relying instead on an almost instinctive feeling that in the case of drugs we are dealing with a danger great enough to outweigh the claims of freedom. Let us suppose that this instinct is well founded. Drug use and abuse continues, despite a long-standing and highly expensive programme of prohibition.
Drugs are very easily obtainable in very many parts of Britain, and drug-related crime has risen.
Those who fear drugs and their impact on society as a whole as well as the individual who takes them, must assess whether the present legal position is making the danger they fear greater or less. This is not a matter that can be settled in abstraction. It requires a judgement about the facts. In judging the facts one further concept for political philosophy is useful. People tend to speak as though legal freedom was an all or nothing affair - either something is against the law or it is not.