Change of position - All drugs should be legal

[Dystopia]

I used smartphone games as an example - People have been known to become addicted to videogames and it can greatly affect their lives. Alcohol and gambling can have the exact same effects, but are not banned activities/substances - Just regulated.

Yes, but drinking and gambling are acceptable recreational activities in our society. It's normal to go to the bar with your co-workers at the end of the day; it's not so normal to shoot up with them at the end of the day. There is a negative stigma associated with hard drugs (and weed, in America's case.) Do you think that there shouldn't be a negative stigma around them? Regardless, there is. And it's near impossible IMO to get rid of it, especially with all those cocaine and heroin horror stories in existence. As long as that stigma exists, it doesn't matter. So the point that drinking and gambling can be just as damaging is irrelevant when the negative stigma surrounding drugs is so strong.

So are you saying that the reason something shouldn't be allowed is because there is a stigma around it? There is a stigma against people having too many sex partners (particularly women) but we shouldn't ban such behavior - To actually say the stigma matters is irrational.

There isn't a negative stigma associated with drinking after work, but many people don't know who drinkers are - Some people who are drinking are merely enjoying it, others may leave, arrive home and beat/threaten their families because they're drunk. There isn't a stigma simply because alcohol has been legal since forever and people are used to it - If alcohol was never legal in the first place, the reaction would be similar to other drugs. Also, keep in mind that when we are talking about drugs, there isn't an extreme division with cigs and alcohol on the one side, and heroin on the other - There's all kind of drugs with different effects. Using the example of cocaine, it seems to be more addicting psychologically than physically and it's possible to exercise control over the amount you take if you can manage your urges.