The Harm Principle & Personal Liberty – People should be able to choose what they do in their free time with their own money as long as it doesn’t harm anyone else or wider society (what John Stuart Mill called the “harm principle”).

That means there’s no contradiction in supporting drug legalisation, yet at the same time supporting things like public smoking bans (due to passive smoking – harming someone else) or minimum alcohol prices (to curb drunken assaults – harming wider society – while not banning the sale of alcohol completely).

Proper regulation and oversight – One of the serious health issues relating to drug abuse is that there are no guidelines or restrictions on manufacturing. Common cutting agents include things like flour and plaster, ranging to cleaning products and rat poison – making some of the cutting agents more dangerous than the active ingredient in the drug itself.

Setting proper industrial and pharmaceutical standards for recreational drug manufacturing would enable safer drugs to be legally available, or open the door to safer alternatives being developed. Also, restricting sales and supply to properly licenced pharmacies takes the drug trade off the streets.

Taking back control from the criminals – Prohibition places the role of regulator, manufacturer and supplier in the hands of criminals.

It’s irresponsible to suggest that legalising drugs would cut crime. It might. It could ease some of the pressure on the police, prisons and court service through falls in convictions because things like possession would no longer be treated as offences.

If very addictive drugs like heroin were available on prescription there would be no reason for people to get involved in street crime to raise money to get hold of them. Also, people who produce drug crops – like cannabis and coca leaves – will be able to sell them on the market as legitimate businesses. That means tax.

The 2020 Wales’ Fiscal Future report estimated that up to £206million a year was spent in Wales on narcotics as of 2016. Assuming that spending was 100% legitimised and regulated, a 20% tax rate might raise ~£41million annually at 2016 prices. A duty (such as a set duty-by-weight of narcotics sold) could yield a different figure.

In 2017, a Health Poverty Action report⁶ estimated the UK Government could raise between £397-£871million in tax revenues from legalised cannabis (depending on the rate at which a cannabis tax/duty is set); a proportional Wales-only figure would be in the £20-44million range.

A public health and environmental timebomb – Using the example of cannabis in isolation, its long-term use has been linked to mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia⁷. If it (and other drugs) were legalised and normalised, then you would presume recorded illnesses associated with drug use would increase.

Some studies – as noted earlier – have shown that cannabis legalisation, in isolation, doesn’t necessarily lead to a massive increase in take-up. Additionally, a British Medical Journal study from the Netherlands suggests that heroin on prescription alongside methadone is a more effective treatment for addiction than methadone alone⁸. However, substitute drugs and addiction treatments are nowhere near as effective as abstinence, of course.

There’s also the environmental impact to consider. Growing even a small number of cannabis plants requires a lot of energy/light and water (at least 20 litres per plant, per day during the peak growing season). This might not matter as much if it’s grown outdoors, but given our weather in Wales, it’s likely that domestic cannabis production will only be done indoors on a factory scale.

That’s before mentioning the kind of chemicals and energy used to create synthetic drugs like ecstasy or cocaine. As noted in Part II, there’s the impact of coca and cocaine production on rainforests.

Gateway drugs theory – Would legitimising the use of cannabis lead to people moving on to stronger and harder drugs once cannabis no longer works for them? The same thing is often said about underage drinking and smoking.

Scientifically, the idea isn’t fully accepted yet⁹. One identified causal factor for adult drug use seems to be undiagnosed and untreated mental health problems as teenagers¹⁰. However, that study also included that using cannabis in adolescence “enhances the increased likelihood of continuing use of other psychoactive substances, and may be further compromised by underlying mental health condition.”

Even if legalised recreational drugs were only available to adults, some would inevitably make their way to older teenagers (as happens now). The issue is whether opening access to legally-available drugs would make this problem worse.

“Keep fighting the good fight” – Does it matter if the “war on drugs” can be won?

Unilaterally legalising drugs (beyond cannabis) would almost certainly cause diplomatic problems with the United States and most of Europe. I also don’t need to tell you what arguments would start if cocaine, LSD and ecstasy with “Made in Wales” stamped on it appeared on the streets of Bristol and Chester.

All those “nice people” currently making money out of drug trafficking and supply aren’t suddenly going to “go straight” if drugs were legalised. It could increase crime elsewhere: money laundering, robberies, cyber crime, arms dealing and people trafficking.

There’s a moral argument that people should be prevented from using drugs for their own good, regardless of whether decision-makers are approaching it in the right way (Part III). Drug abuse is often a symptom of a bigger problem in an individual’s life or society as a whole, making it a bellwether.

So if drug use is no longer “a problem” because it’s legal, then society can choose to ignore it – much as we do about Wales’ serious problems with alcohol, sedentary lifestyles and anti-social driving.

Then those with the power to do something stop caring. That can be far worse in the long run, particularly for those at the bottom of society who have addictions and need help, or communities that would be left to their own devices.