Why do we have drug laws?

Different countries have different attitudes and laws about drugs and at times people as well as their governments change their opinions about drugs. For example:

• ALCOHOL was illegal in the USA in the 1920's; it is illegal now in Saudi Arabia; in Australia it is widely available.
• HEROIN was legal and widely used in the USA and Australia in the last century. Now it is illegal almost everywhere, though it can be used legally in Britain for pain relief in terminal cancer patients.

In Australia, some groups have strong feelings about particular drugs. For example:

• The anti-smoking movement is trying to get people to stop smoking, and to get stronger laws to control the advertising and promotion of tobacco, and its use in public places.
• Some groups are working to change public opinion on cannabis and lobbying for reduced legal controls on the drug.

If you are arrested, the police and the courts are not interested in your beliefs about drugs. Police don't make the laws, they simply enforce them. Courts don't make the laws either. They deal with people who are charged with breaking the law. Only the various levels of government can make or change laws. Government policies about drugs usually take account of:

• the toxicity (poisonousness) of a drug
• its effects on behaviour
• its effects on society
• how the community feels about the drug
• results of research
• health implications generally