Pros And Cons Of Legalizing Narcotics

Today in the United States, the incarceration rates have reached concerning heights. The biggest portion of those incarcerated has something to do with narcotics, whether it is selling, possessing, or under the influence of them. The growing rate of incarcerations due to narcotics has gotten some individuals debating. Debates have begun over whether narcotics should be legalized. Proponents for legalizing narcotics have two strong arguments for why this should be the case. The first argument is that the narcotics should be included in our conception of what is the “good life”. The second argument is that legalizing narcotics will give individuals more autonomy. On the opposite side of the debate, the opposing side also has two strong arguments against legalizing narcotics. Their first argument is that individuals who partake in recreational drug use are factually wrong about the repercussions of their actions. Their second argument …show more content…
Most of us know that some drugs have addictive qualities to them. They can make the user dependent on them. They give the user strong compulsions to continue to use that particular drug. Those are the effects of addiction. The argument here is that once an individual is addicted to recreational narcotics, they lose their autonomy. The strongest example to display this would be a user with an addiction and tries to quit but ends up relapsing. This example shows the effects of addiction on autonomy. The example shows that the user wants to make an autonomous decision to quit using the particular drug. However, the effects of the drug have impeded the user from successfully carrying out their decisions. Instead the addiction has drawn the user back into the perpetual cycle of drug use. The addiction has impeded the autonomy of the individual. The individual no longer has the free-will to make choices that are independent of the drug