A policy of respect for democratic values in the matter of psychoactive substances would be to educate people so that they could make an intelligent choice based on their own needs and ideals. This kind of simple prescription is necessary and, unfortunately, already late. A general plan for those who are seriously seeking to come to terms with the American drug problem might contain several choice points, including those listed below.
1. A 200% federal tax on tobacco and alcohol should be introduced. All government tobacco subsidies need to be stopped. More serious warnings should be printed on the packages.Twenty percent of the federal sales tax must be levied on sugar and its substitutes; it is necessary to stop all support for sugar production. On sugar packs, there should also be cautions, and sugar should be a mandatory topic in the school education program.
2. It is necessary to legalize all types of cannabis and introduce a 200% federal tax on the sale of hemp products. Information on the content of “THC” products (tetrahydrocannabiol) and current information on its effect on health should be printed on the package.
3. The lending activities of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank should be closed in countries that produce hard drugs. Only an international inspection and a certificate stating that the country is not engaged in such activities will restore the right to receive a loan.
4. Strict control should be established, both for manufacturers and for owners of weapons. It was the wide availability of firearms that led to the close intertwining of the problems of violent crime and drug abuse.
5. The legality of nature, and therefore the legality of all plants for their cultivation and use, must be recognized.
6. Psychedelic therapy should be made legal and included in the existing insurance system.
7. It is necessary to strengthen the legislation on currency and banking operations. Today, a secret agreement between banks and criminal cartels allows for large-scale money laundering.
8. There is a direct need for serious support for research related to all aspects of substance use and abuse, as well as for serious public education.
9. One year after the implementation of the above, it is necessary to legalize psychoactive substances that are still considered illegal in the United States. The mediation is eliminated, the government can sell the substances at their price plus 200%, and this money can be placed in a special fund to pay the social, medical and educational costs of the legalization program. Money from taxation on alcohol, tobacco, sugar and hemp can also be placed in this fund.
10. At the end of this year, all drug offenders who did not use firearms and did not display criminal acts should also be pardoned.
If these proposals seem too radical, it is only because we have moved far from the ideals that were originally the most American. The basis of the American theory of social policy is the notion that the right to “life, liberty, and the search for happiness” belongs to our undivided rights. To declare that the right to seek happiness does not include the right to experiment with psychoactive plants and substances is to put forward an argument, narrow at best, at worst, ignorant and primitive. The only religions that are more than the traditionally sanctioned moral code are the religions of trance, dance ecstasy, and intoxication with hallucinogens. This is a living fact of the secret of being, and an inherent religious right is the opportunity to approach it in our own way. A civilized society will make this principle a law.