How do legal drugs affect society?

Answer 1

To put it simply, narcotic drugs are a source of mind altering substances that can commonly cause hallucinations and other side effects that could lead towards mental instability. If a person becomes mentally unstable then society could possibly be in danger from the actions of the drug user, creating a risk. Not always the case, but majority of the time it is what drives people to commit crimes and offences towards society.

Answer 2

It depends on the drug in question.

Alcohol is legal, yet it is responsible for physical violence such as assaults, domestic violence, and child abuse. It is responsible for many accidents, ranging from slips and falls, to fatal highway collisions involving motor vehicles. Chronic use of alcohol leads to addiction, poverty, homelessness, and health problems. The health problems include liver disease, pancreatitis, and cancer of the liver, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, brain, colon, etc. Alcohol use leads to poor judgement, bad decisions, and poor reproductive choices. To be fair, there are people who use alcohol more like a medicine and respect it, and thus use alcohol only as necessary to prevent violence or self-harm.

Pain pills are legal and necessary, but often misused. If misused, over the counter pain relievers can lead to health problems such as hearing loss, nerve damage, liver disease, and kidney disease. Prescribed pain medication can be addictive, and if misused, prescription painkillers could cause many health problems. While prescription painkillers are legal to possess and use if they are prescribed to you, it is not legal to give or sell such medication to others. Yet, there are people who find ways to get prescription painkillers by false pretenses, and there are doctors who basically sell prescriptions to addicts and dealers. The social impacts of misused painkillers are somewhat similar to the effects of alcohol abuse.

Psychotropic drugs are drugs prescribed by psychiatrists to treat mental health conditions. When properly prescribed and used, these medications help improve the quality of life for many people, help prevent suicide, and help to keep the streets safe. But sometimes these drugs are over-prescribed, forcibly given to people who don't need them, or misused like street drugs. For instance, some will misuse anxiety drugs to get high. Some psychotropic pills may be used as crutches or used to create a designer society. Imagine someone arbitrarily deciding that certain natural traits are wrong and then proposing medication to "treat" some made up "illness" which is no more than an inconvenience to certain people or someone's moral preference? For instance, ADHD and depression medications could be used to force the genders to act more alike. ADHD medications are often used as an alternative to raising children and teaching firm limits and responsibility. You can see the sliding slope there. Imagine medications being given to reduce homosexuality, reduce a belief in God, or to reduce conservative political views.