> Coca-Cola includes a coca leaf extract as an ingredient prepared by a Stepan Company plant in Maywood, New Jersey. The facility, which had been known as the Maywood Chemical Works, was purchased by Stepan in 1959. The plant is the only commercial entity in the United States authorized by the Drug Enforcement Administration to import coca leaves, which come primarily from Peru via the National Coca Company. Approximately 100 metric tons of dried coca leaf are imported each year. The cocaine-free extract is sold to The Coca-Cola Company for use in soft drinks, while the cocaine is sold to Mallinckrodt, a pharmaceutical firm, for medicinal purposes.
Bloodletting was a common therapeutic meassure for a millenia, until a few centuries ago. In other words, something being considered adquate in the past says nothing about its safety by modern standards.
I think research has already shown that the benefits of legalization outweigh those of criminalization. When something is legal, then people can be presented with treatment options and be given safe unaltered drugs. There are groups that literally go around passing out needles to drug addicts because it has been found to actually prevent more deaths than those caused by harm of using dirty needles.
Before legalization, maybe consider decriminalization, like in Portugal.
It is not the same thing. Drugs are still illegal in Portugal, and trafficking is a crime, but personal use is not a criminal offense anymore. If you get caught, you can get fined, especially if you are uncooperative, but you won't face a criminal trial and you won't go to jail. But more importantly, they can suggest treatment options if you are addicted.
You won't get safe unadulterated drugs but you can get testing kits. In festivals, you can find booths where they will check your drugs for free.
I don't know how I feel about legalizing all drugs. Heroin is nasty stuff, even if you get the good one, and I would rather not encourage using stimulants stronger than caffeine in our overworked society.
