I often think about this question: What would happen if someone invented the absolutely perfect recreational drug? What would happen in the US in terms of legislation, taxation, enforcement etc?
What would a "perfect" recreational drug be?
It would have to have no "bad" side effects
- No short-term side effects such as impairing safety, or inciting a person to commit a crime.
- It would have to have no long-term side effects, such as caus cancer, require increasing dosage, damage the heart, liver, kidneys or brain cells.
- It couldn't impair learning or development, and not affect reproduction, gestation, or lactation.
- The dose should be such that an increased amount would do nothing --so an overdose is impossible.
- All of the above would have to be proven with extensive testing over a long period of time
It would have to provide a desirable "good effect" to make it desirable for recreation. What would that be?
- Calming,relaxing, mood elevating?
- The feeling should only last a short time --say 30minutes, so people have control over the amount of time they're under the influence
People who are under the influence of the drug should be clearly identifiable --Their eyes turn red, or their ears turn blue. So if your airline pilot has blue ears, you wouldn't want to fly with him.
Let's assume that there was such a drug--invented today and all of the above is proven. Could I sell it legally? No, it would require the FDA approval. Even if all of those items above were proven, it is likely that the FDA would disapprove it. Why?
One reason is that the competing "legal recreation drug purveyors" would feel threatened. Beer, wine and liquor industries would contribute funds to lobby and advertise against legalization of this new drug. Bars, night clubs, restaurants, beer distributors, and cigar emporiums would all contribute to lobby against the new drug.
The religion industry would also rally against the drug. They know that Karl Marx was right when he said "Religion is the opiate of the people" --A less expensive drug would certainly cause the US religion industry to decrease their revenue.
The anti-drug industry would also feel threatened. There is a huge industry that has evolved around stopping recreational drugs. DEA employees, Prison builders and prison guard unions would certainly stop at spending anything to stop the new drug. Companies that make breathalysers, ignition lock out systems, drug dog trainers, and border surveillance industries would be against it.
The illegal drug industry would also be against this new drug. If people could buy a inexpensive legal, and safe drug, why would they buy these illegal, expensive and unsafe drugs? They would all contribute to the cause of stopping the legalization of this new "perfect recreational drug." Mendocino County residents are against the legalization of marijuana in California because so much of their economy is based upon the manufacture and sale of illegal marijuana.
If a drug like this was discovered and proven elsewhere, those same industries would do everything in their power to prevent the new drug from even being tested. For example, the industries have been preventing all US drug developers from doing controlled tests with Marijuana for decades. Since the 1920s and 1930s the US Government has published advertising and "health" education warning about Marijuana. In most cases the Government has knowingly lied about the health problems caused by Marijuana.
Taking this to another level -- what would happen if we learned that we could manufacture this drug safely at home with a couple of simple household products. For instance if we split a banana, put a piece of spearmint gum inside, close it back up and put it into the refrigerator for 3 days --then chew the gum. Would the Government make importation of banana's illegal? Would the government ban spearmint gum? Or require the forumla for the gum be changed to prevent the chemical reaction from occurring?
