Drug legalization via substitute highs

Slate is running a thought-provoking piece on the "other" form of drug legalization. Calling for the legalization of marijuana or heroin is likely going to be a political lightning rod for decades to come. But instead of trying to make illegal drugs legal, society is pushing to find nearly equally effective legal substitutes:

Over the last two decades, the FDA has become increasingly open to drugs designed for the treatment of depression, pain, and anxiety—drugs that are, by their nature, likely to mimic the banned Schedule I narcotics. Part of this is the product of a well-documented relaxation of FDA practice that began under Clinton and has increased under Bush. But another part is the widespread public acceptance of the idea that the effects drug users have always been seeking in their illicit drugs—calmness, lack of pain, and bliss—are now "treatments" as opposed to recreation. We have reached a point at which it's commonly understood that when people snort cocaine because they're depressed or want to function better at work, that's drug trafficking; but taking antidepressants for similar purposes is practicing medicine....

As many have pointed out, drugs like Ritalin and cocaine act in nearly the exact same manner: Both are dopamine enhancers that block the ability of neurons to reabsorb dopamine. As a 2001 paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded, Ritalin "acts much like cocaine."....Or as one satisfied user reports on Erowid, "this is the closest pharmaceutical *high* to street cocaine that I have experienced." In the words of another, "I felt very happy, and very energetic, and I had this feeling like everything was right with the world."

The Ritalin/cocaine intersection is but one example. Other substitutes are opium-based drugs available in somewhat legalized versions, with names like Vicodin and OxyContin, Clonazepam, and valium. These may not be exact substitutes for marijuana, but they all seem to attract users seeking the same mellowing effects and loss of some forms of anxiety. In short, the differences between pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs may ultimately be much more social than chemical.

The article is an interesting thought exercise, although the analogy breaks down a little when considering the rampant, shrill claims of prescription drug abuse that reverberate in the news. We may well be developing medical substitutes for our illicit pleasures, but it's a long way from there to any kind of true legalization, where these substitutes are regulated like alcohol in the context of pleasure-seeking. Still, there's no arguing that for some, access to these substitutes is a lot easier than access to street drugs. A friend of mind recently started on a low dose of Effexor and reported that she felt like she was on a mild amount of ecstasy all day. It certainly made me consider dreaming up some symptoms for my next visit to the doctor.