Government's task is to meet its citizens' interests. Uphold them and guarantee their rights. Government is not about morals any more, and neither should it be perceived to be. Just because something is legal does not make it moral. Those two need to be put aside and understood as distinct characteristics. There are plenty of things we accept to be legal, but certainly not moral, yet on some issues, some people fail to make the correct distinction.

And drugs is the next issue queued up. However, when the issue of drugs is usually brought up, the proponents of legalising it tends to argue that drugs are not more dangerous than say alcohol or cigarettes. But this is falling into the trap that the opponents argue that drugs are dangerous. But this part of the discussion for whether drugs should be legalised is irrelevant. Yes, it is good to know that users of drugs will be able to get their fix in a safe environment and doses if it was legal, but it is not the reason for why we should legalise it.

Laws are about social practicality. Whether or not you should take drugs (or how you think about the aspect of doing so) is up to you. I care not either way what you think of them. I don't care much for them myself. But I do believe that legalising them is the next step. People are not going to stop taking drugs any time soon. In fact, I doubt they ever will. So rather than completely criminalising these people (whom are not criminals in my mind, they just want to get off at times), government should be meeting them half way.

The real criminals have become those who sell the drugs. And it has become a massive industry for them. There are plenty of buyers, and since government will have no interest in it, they maintain a monopoly. Or well, only from legitimate organisations. Because usually, there are more than one organisation trying to maintain the drug distribution. And this can sometimes lead to outright warfare.

In my home town of Copenhagen, Denmark, gang violence over territory for purposes of selling drugs have yet to die out completely, but it used to be worse. And people not involved in drugs at all have been caught in the crossfire. And I doubt it is exclusive to this city. In fact, the Mexican drug cartels have notorious for their violent behaviour.

But these cartels are even more interesting for the fact that they have reached such levels of control that they are basically proto-states themselves. They have access to technology that is usually exclusively to governments; such as their own mobile phone system (although recently shut down by the Mexican Army). They have corrupt politicians in almost all the Mexican-American border states. And they will kill anyone without mercy should they reveal any secret of theirs. This Autumn alone, several bloggers discussing the cartels have been found dead in various places.

However, legalising drugs will not magically make all the crime go away. A huge organisation such these are not going to take a beaten so easy. Sure, the Italian Mafia in the US eventually turned their attention to gambling and drugs after alcohol was legalised again after the Prohibition, they did not favour a legalising of alcohol, because it would upset their market interest. And I am certain that these drug cartels will be fighting any government attempt at taking over their business.

But such difficulties should not make us opt for the failed option we have tried for years. For the sake of society. For the sake of keeping our citizens safe. To control the vices that our people are subject to any how. Legalising drugs is necessary. And it will come eventually. You cannot kill all traditions in a day, but you might as well kill one.

To pretend that we can control this is a fallacy. But being against drugs, prostitution and so forth seems to be clear winners in politics. And well... that's the problem. The only downside to making humans live longer is that it will take more time for the older generations to die out.