As far as modern-day affronts to our autonomy go, the outlawing of drugs is one of the most egregious. Since the mid-to-late 19th century when drug laws started to crop up in the US, it has been the status-quo for the government to have the power to partly command what we choose to put into our bodies and dole out punishment when we fail to comply.
There is no argument in favor of outlawing drugs that isn’t characterized by excessive paternalism – they all run up against the robust tenet that we should be free to do as we please so long as we do not violate the rights of others and this includes using harmful drugs.
As such, it was pleasing to learn that the Trump administration is considering rescheduling marijuana out of Schedule I, which is the most restrictive category used for drugs with, “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” While truly respecting our autonomy entails descheduling marijuana altogether, it’s a step in the right direction. It’s also a step that the government should be taking with all other drugs.
Anti-drug legislation and law enforcement have not been shown to significantly reduce use and millions of people have had to interact with the justice system in one way or another for doing something that should be well within their rights.
Beyond the fact that the government should not interfere with what cognizant adults choose to ingest, outlawing hallucinogenic drugs punishes individuals for exploring their own consciousness: according to many who have tried hallucinogens, they allow access to a cognitive world that is normally hidden from view. It’s one that reportedly induces deep reflection and, for many, reveals a path to healing.
Apart from whatever psychological benefits someone might get from using hallucinogens, we should respect an individual’s decision to experience the alternative states that their mind is capable of – if we have a right to decide what happens to anything at all, surely our own mind is the first and most obvious candidate.
Federal scheduling currently has drugs like LSD, marijuana, mescaline, DMT, and psilocybin classified as Schedule I narcotics. Proponents of drug legalization tend to point out that many of these drugs have a low risk for addiction compared to widely available substances like alcohol and tobacco and there is some research that suggests possible therapeutic uses including in the treatment of common psychological disorders. So, the hippies say, these drugs shouldn’t be categorized so harshly because they don’t have a high potential for abuse and there may be medicinal uses for them.
But the hippies are missing the point – even if magic mushrooms were to cause you to spontaneously combust, you should be allowed to turn yourself into charcoal briquets just as you have the right to gorge yourself on cream puffs until you’re shaped like one.
It also isn’t a matter of whether some individuals dislike drugs, dislike the idea of a society where all drugs are legal, or whether anti-drug groups are simply attempting to protect people from the dangers of drugs. It’s a matter of respecting the right of individuals to decide how to live their lives and what to put in their bodies – as fundamental as it gets, no matter how much it may offend the sensibilities of some.
It is certainly a complex matter whether the president has the authority to unilaterally reschedule or completely legalize a drug. It’s uncertain whether the president can simply direct agency heads to do so through standard federal rule-making processes and even less certain whether an executive order would do. Still, given how much control the president has over Congress it’s a given that it’s well within his current capabilities even without further extending presidential powers.
The proper role of the government is, at most, to fund drug research and inform the public about the possible risks, not to police what we choose to ingest. By continuing to classify drugs so harshly, the government makes research more difficult, depriving all of the people who will undoubtedly continue to use the drugs of valuable information that they can use to make educated choices.
Rafael Perez is a columnist for the Southern California News Group.
