Opportunity costs of drug prohibition.

Abstract

Psychoactive substances have benefits as well as risks. The benefits foregone by people who obey prohibition laws (as well as the costs of enforcing those laws against actual and would-be users) should be acknowledged when considering the ethics of drug policies. Older or terminally ill people, who would most likely benefit from psychological or spiritual insights, currently have less access to psychoactive substances than younger people who tend to use the substances for entertainment. The principle of distributive justice suggests that law-abiding citizens should not disproportionately suffer the opportunity costs of unenforceable policies of prohibition. A positive alternative policy would allow adult citizens access to certain psycoactive substances, comparable in safety and effectiveness to drugs now prescribed for medical purposes, as a valued resource for self-actualization.