While legalizers tend to cite drug prohibition as the source of all evil when it comes to drugs, drugs themselves can cause extensive harm. Heroin, cocaine, crack and methamphetamine are highly toxic substances, and those addicted to them engage in all kinds of destructive behavior, from preying on family members to assaulting strangers to abusing children. In all, there are an estimated 4 million hard-core drug users in the United States. They also account for most of the crime, medical emergencies and other harmful consequences associated with drugs. If drugs were legalized, the number of chronic users could well increase.
History is full of cautionary examples.
As physicians became aware of Valium's dangers, they began writing fewer prescriptions for it, and the number of emergency cases began dropping as well. Clearly, making drugs easier to get can increase the extent to which they are abused, and one can only imagine what would happen if such potent intoxicants as heroin and crack suddenly became available by prescription or were sold openly. Under the regimes favored by some libertarians and free-marketeers, legalized drugs would be sold commercially and marketed aggressively, with potentially disastrous results for addicts and kids. From a political standpoint, the liabilities of legalization are no less obvious. According to opinion polls, most Americans strongly oppose legalizing drugs.