Are legal drugs more damaging to younger populations rather than illegal drugs?

Answer 1

The question you're asking is probably more sociological than medical. Just to try for an answer though, consider the following: Recreational Drugs The fact is, more money is spent on alcohol and tobacco related medical conditions than on anything in the illegal category, so we can conclude the extent and depth of physiological problems resulting from legal recreational drug use is both more widespread and does more damage. While the damage done by most drugs is a chronic affair, so it's hard to apply to younger populations, this is certainly where the "imprinting" or decision to include these drugs -- legal or otherwise -- into ones' social picture is made. It's therefore unreasonable to consider teen statistics without considering long term effects. Breaking Laws or Not The adoption of a lifestyle that invovles a high level of felonius activity, be it illegal drug use, burglary or whatever, has long time effects, some of which are difficult to determine. The effects in this case, however, are not related directly to the drug, but more to the lifestyle. Certainly, recidivist felons have a shorter life expentancy and a more difficult quality of life. The whys and wherefores of this adoption of lifestyle are beyond the scope of this response. Quasi-legal drugs This would include marijuana (depending on State law -- in places where this is a low-end misdemeanor or even jsut a violation), and perhaps boot leg ethanol. In both these case, the law and social stigma are not the same as they are for (a) more serious illegal drugs, (b) prescription drugs, and (c) legal recreational drugs like legally marketed alcohol. If the subject remains in a social situation where the law is not broken in a serious way (e.g. crimes against persons), the overall psychosocial effect is minimal -- they typically won't get shot by police lfeeing the seen of smoking a joint :}. In this case, where we've assumed a "normal" lifestyle and crime doesn't play a major role, by far the numerically most dangerous drugs are the legal forms of alcohol and tobacco, based on healthcare statistics and cash outlay (cash outlay is a pretty good tool for estimating damage). Criminology At one time, jurisprudence made a clear distinction between crimes against persons and other types of crime. A crime commited against a person with malice and intent was considered the hghest category of crime. This legal tenet reflected good psychology. Criminals who physicall and willfully attack other people are more dangerous to a society than criminals who commit crimes wherein no-one is physically hurt. In America, this is no longer the case, where a first time assault and battery convict will typically get far less jail time and fines than a first time drug seller. In simplistic terms, what this does is it puts non-violent offenders into the same population as extremely violent offenders, often to the extreme detriment of the non-violent offender. Without going into the question of right and wrong, it's fair to say that this exposes a large number of psychologically non-problematic people to those with severe, violent pathologies. And in that equation, we know who gets damaged. Summary * The effects of drugs is typically chronic, and therefore making an assessment of a younger population will yield results that are incomplete. * Habitual felons are more badly damaged than those that aren't, merely by the fact that the act is a felony, regardless of the underlying psychopathology it implies (e.g. you can be a felon for pacifistically selling drugs or aggressively attacking people -- the law does not reflect the depth of the pathology). * Youngsters who sell illegal drugs are far more likely to get into severe legal and sociological danger than those that don't. * Those who use legal drugs constitute a far larger segment of the medically compromised population than those who use illegal drugs.

Answer 2

Yes legal drugs cause more problems than illegal drugs because they are much easier to get hold of e.g. you can easily buy paracetamol from a pharmacists. This means that legal drugs also cause a lot more deaths than illegal drugs.

Answer 3

Not all legal drug are harmless some of them are harmful and can cause danger to your body .For example, tobacco in cigarettes cause lung cancer