Legalization of all drugs

This article discussed that in order to get rid of all the drug problems, you simply make them all legal, sell them at a high price, and label the side effects. They say that by doing this, in the long run people will not use them as frequently. I do not agree with this because by making it legal and available, it is easier to do more of it, hence why there are many addiction problems to alcohol, cigarettes, and tobacco.  I think that what should be done is continue to have them illegal, but have more severe consequences for having them. In class, it was discussed that a government is successful when the consequences of one committing a crime are a greater expense than actually committing the crime. Although, the article does say that the government should allow everyone to do as they please as long as they do not harm others, the government is also there to protect the people. I believe that in this case the government needs to step in and protect its people. You may ask, how does preventing people from doing these drugs protect them? Well I must say that these drugs are not healthy for a person and can cause death. Another way it can be dangerous is to children. Having a friend whose parents suffer from addictions of drugs and alcohol, I can see how that really takes a toll on them. If these drugs were not so easily available, my friend may have had a better childhood and not so much emotional pain. If the governments’ job is to protect, then shouldn’t this apply to protecting the upbringing of children? By making it easier to access it, it makes it easier to abuse it. In the long run, legalizing drugs does not make this problem easier because they will be too easily accessible, leading to a higher risk of abusing the drugs.

http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/01/home/vidal-drugs.html