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Derek Kramer
Ms. Pevar
Persuasive Essay
17 November 2014

I am sure everyone has heard about marijuana legalization. It is almost impossible to

avoid the topic with the recent recreational legalization in Colorado and Washington. But what
about the idea of legalizing all drugs? Yes, even the hard drugs like cocaine, heroin, MDMA
and LSD. The purpose of this paper is to explain why the United States should legalize all drugs
because prohibition of these illegal drugs has put power in the hands of violent gangs and
criminals through a black market, to debunk some of the misinformation and taboo surrounding
these drugs, stripped Americans of the freedom this country was supposedly founded on, and
most importantly, deprived us of the medical and recreational benefits of these drugs. Most
people are skeptical of the idea of being able to buy a drug like cocaine from the government
legally. Especially after being told all their lives that drugs are bad, whether it be through DARE
for the younger generations or through Nancy Reagans Just Say No campaign for the older
generations. But consider that according to World Health Organization, illegal drugs were
responsible for only a mere 250,000 deaths worldwide in 2004, while alcohol and tobacco were
responsible for a whopping 2.25 million and 5.1 million deaths, respectively
(MyHealthNewsDaily).
To start off, I will present some info on studies done with illegal drugs. The following
info comes from an article by Laura Nelson in which she analyzes a study done at Johns Hopkins
Hospital. This hospital certainly does not lack credibility as it was ranked by U.S. News & World
Report as the best overall hospital in America for 21 consecutive years. This study was done

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using magic mushrooms, an illegal, psychedelic drug, to aid smokers in quitting. The test
subjects were 15 people whom on average smoked 19 cigarettes a day for 31 years. Each patient
had three different sessions with the mushrooms. The abstinence rate for study participants was
80 percent after six months. This is head and shoulders above the approximately 35 percent
experience six-month success rates when taking varenicline, which is considered by many to be
the most effective smoking cessation drug. It is important to note that them quitting is not a
direct result of the mushrooms. It is not like that the moment they are no longer tripping, they
will revert to cigarettes.
A corresponding author on the study, Matthew Johnson, said "quitting smoking isn't a
simple biological reaction to psilocybin, as with other medications that directly affect nicotine
receptors" and when administered after careful preparation and in a therapeutic context,
psilocybin can lead to deep reflection about one's life and spark motivation to change" (qtd in
Nelson). Instead of getting their nicotine fixes through nicotine patches, they are having
reflective experiences which prompts them to stop smoking (Nelson). I do not know about my
readers, but there are several people in my life I would like to see stop smoking and the odds are
that you have one too. And it is also very ironic that they are using an illegal drug to combat the
effects of a legal one, tobacco.
Another study was written about by Maia Szalavitz of Time. This study used the same
drug and was conducted at John Hopkins as well. Except this time, the drug was administered to
18 healthy adults whom were all were interested in spiritual experience. They participated in five
sessions with the mushrooms. Fourteen months after participating in the study, 94% of those who
received the drug claimed the experiment was one of the top five most meaningful experiences
of their lives and 39% deemed it as the most meaningful experience. The participants were not

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the only one to notice changes in themselves. Others such as friends and family reported that the
participants seemed calmer, happier and kinder. The following are quotes from the participants
that illustrate the effects the drug had on them: I feel that I relate better in my marriage. There is
more empathy a greater understanding of people and understanding their difficulties and less
judgment and I have better interaction with close friends and family and with acquaintances
and strangers. My alcohol use has diminished dramatically (qtd in Szalavitz).
If doctors and scientists were able to such great things with just one hard drug,
imagine the potential of the others. These drugs have had their potential realized for a long time.
It is the legality and social stigma surrounding them that prevents them from being used to their
full extent. The founder of Alcohol Anonymous, Bill Wilson, believed LSD had the potential to
cure alcoholics and credited the drug with helping his own recovery from depression. He was
quoted saying I consider LSD to be of some value to some people, and practically no damage to
anyone. It will never take the place of any of the existing means by which we can reduce the ego,
and keep it reduced (qtd in Szalavitz). Bill Wilson is not the only one to attribute success
partially to LSD. The late Steve Jobs, whom is partially responsible for the creation of the
MacBook you might be reading this on, described his use of LSD as "a positive life-changing
experience" and even went as far as to say that his rival, Bill Gates, would be a broader guy if
he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger (qtd in Yglesias).
Unfortunately, LSD has not been incorporated into AA treatment, but studies have been
done reaffirming his notion and one of these studies was analyzed by Maia Szalavitz of Time. A
study done by Norwegian scientists involved administering LSD to a group of 536 adults which
of 59% of participants who took acid and either dramatically cut back their drinking or quit
(Szalavitz). Another study would involve MDMA, commonly referred to as molly. This drug is

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known to cause intense euphoria. They are currently administering this drug to veterans with
PTSD (Posttraumatic stress syndrome). Dara Colwell of Alternet wrote an extensive article on
this and a veteran who participated in the study. PTSD is an anxiety disorder that can cause
nightmares, flashbacks and worse. It is common for veterans to return with this and a report in
2009 from the National Center of PTSD states that 41 percent of troops have chronic symptoms.
Tony Macie, who returned from Iraq in 2007, is a victim of PTSD. In Iraq I had to be
hypervigilant, five steps ahead. Back home, I was still in the mindset for combat and my brain
wouldnt shut off, Macie said (qtd in Colwell). Haunted by the horrible images of friends dying,
he tried to cope with drinking and prescription pills. Macie said At that point I was taking so
many different drugs, I was zombied out. Looking back, I was actively seeking help (qtd. in
Colwell). After exercising many different treatments but with no positive results, he turned to
MDMA-assisted psychotherapy. Macie got through the first session, decided to stop taking his
prescription pills and said It was a paradigm shift. I want all vets to have the same tool at their
disposal (qtd in Colwell). Unfortunately, Macie will not get his wish for now because MDMA
is among the drugs that the DEA claims have no accepted medical use. The DEA has continues
to insist this despite the fact that by 1965, more than 2,000 papers describing positive results for
40,000 patients who took psychedelic drugs had been published. When I went to war, I put
politics aside. I went to war and served people. Now that Im home, politics is getting in the way
of treating people. I was lucky. People who know me see the results, they see my life changing,
proclaimed Macie (qtd in Colwell). I am sure all of my readers know a veteran, and like I, hate to
see them be deprived of a useful medicine for a terrible disorder.
I assure my readers that I am completely aware of the dangers of these drugs. To say that
these drugs are completely safe would be asinine because I have had firsthand experience of the

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dangers of drugs. Consider gun ownership. From the pro-gun side, you will hear guns dont kill
people, people kill people. They place the blame for gun-related deaths on the gun owners and
not the gun. You can do the same for drugs. Do not place the blame for drug-related death on the
drug, but rather the drug user. Plenty of people possess fire arms and use them responsibly.
Plenty of people also use drugs responsibly, you just wont hear about them on the news.
I had a group of friends who were sold what they believed to be LSD but turned out to be
a research chemical. Long story short, it ended with one of my friends dead and another serving
2 years in jail for involuntary manslaughter. They failed to practice harm reduction along with
personal responsibility and paid the price, just like someone who decides to get behind the wheel
while drunk and ends up dying. This is hindsight, but if they were able to get pure LSD rather
than a dangerous research chemical, I think the night would have had a better ending. How
would they obtain pure LSD? If the government were to legalize these drugs and regulate them.
This would result in people knowing what they are putting in their body, rather than being forced
to trust the drug dealer down the street. And as long as these drugs remain illegal, these drug
dealers, who normally are more concerned with profit than the health of their customers, will
continue to be in power. How often do you hear of someone dying from a laced alcoholic drink
or cigarette? Rarely. This is because of the government regulations surrounding them.
Also consider that we are incarcerating people for experimenting with their
consciousness. These non-violent drug offenders, which account for about one-fourth of all
inmates in the United States according to a CEPR study, are being incarcerated for making
decision regarding their own body and are not harming or threatening the liberties and freedoms
of anyone else (Rugy). They are jailed, given a criminal record, stripped of their right to vote and
ability to receive student loans. This war on drugs seem like a great idea on the surface. Of

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course we do not want people becoming drug addicts. But the idea that we are going to be able to
eradicate all these drugs through prohibition is insane. And if you want any proof of that, you do
not have to look any further than alcohol prohibition which did nothing but gives us the likes of
Al Capone and other gangsters who contributed nothing to society but violence and crime.
Our country realized this mistake and repealed prohibition 81 years ago. Hopefully our
government can realize their mistake and repeal prohibition on illegal drugs. Ironically, we are
experiencing an example of why prohibition does not work, marijuana. It is illegal at a federal
level, but I guarantee a fair number of people could illegally obtain marijuana with relative ease
within 24 hours, in fact, it might be easier to obtain it than alcohol if they are under 21 years old.
This is because drug dealers have no laws and no reason not to sell weed to a seventeen year old
because it means profit for him. If you are able to get an illegal drug easier than a legal one, that
is a sign that prohibition is not working.
Next time you think of a smoker or alcoholic you know who is struggling to quit or a
veteran suffering from PTSD, remember that there are drugs out there that are proven to be
effective treatments for them. But also remember that the government is denying them access to
these drugs on claims that the drugs have no medicinal value despite the fact that there are plenty
of studies to show that this is not true. If this paper has not already inspired you to take action, I
challenge you to take action towards getting these drugs legalized, whether it be by writing to
your congressmen or spreading the information used in this paper.

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Works Cited
Colwell, Dara. "MDMA (Ecstasy) Is a Lifesaver for Vets with PTSD: It's Time to Bring It Back
as a Legal Therapy Tool." Alternet. N.p., 31 Dec. 2013. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.

Nelson, Laura. "Hallucinogen in 'magic Mushrooms' Helps Longtime Smokers Quit in Hopkins
Trial." The Hub. Johns Hopkins University, 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
Rugy, Veronica De. "Veronique De Rugy - 'Prison Math' and the War on Drugs." National
Review Online. N.p., 9 June 2011. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
Staff, MyHealthNewsDaily. "Illegal Drugs Cause 250,000 Global Deaths Yearly, Report Finds."
LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 05 Jan. 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
Szalavitz, Maia. "Magic Mushrooms Can Improve Psychological Health Long Term." Time.
Time, 16 June 2011. Web. 10 Nov. 2014.
Szalavitz, Maia. "LSD May Help Treat Alcoholism." Time. Time, 09 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 Nov.
2014.
Yglesias, Matthew. "Steve Jobs on LSD: "A Positive Life-changing Experience for Me."" Slate
Magazine. N.p., 11 June 2012. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.