AH Challenge: Make all drugs legal!

[President Al Bundy]

Your challenge is, to create a POD, that causes drugs to be allowed world-wide! But not only "soft" drugs like Marihuana, but also "hard" drugs like cocaine.

 

[Workable Goblin]

I don't think that's going to happen. The best you could get is (IMHO) that most drugs are about as legal as morphine, or vicodin--that is, allowed for medical use but nothing else. Of course, there will be plenty of people abusing that, just like OTL. More likely is having some of the "soft" drugs stay legal, some of the "hard" drugs become illegal, and the rest either ignored or semi-legal as the above.

 

[boredatwork]

World-wide is the catch.

You could have different social developments in the very late 1800's (cheating slightly) and early 1900's that prevent legislated prohibition in many nations, but I can't think of any non-asb method post 1900 to ensure that every nation world-wide allows all intoxicants.

Alcohol alone blows you out of the water with quite a few muslim nations.

 

[jaybird]

Very, very difficult. The entire Islamic faith would first have to not exist. In addition, no Western colonization of the Far East, as bad memories from opium are a major reason why possession of any quantity of hard drugs is an immediate death sentence in China and several other countries in the region IIRC.

 

[charl]

Well it should be possible with a more lax social environment during the early 20th century to at least ensure that the USA and thus the UN don't pass any treaties or laws that forbid drug-use. Not having the UN forbid it is a good start, but of course there will still be individual nations that pass their own laws.

 

[Geekhis Khan]

Best I can do:

US: Supreme Court strikes down the "Marijuana Stamp Act" in the '20s. Since the whole law was a blatant Catch-22 (need a stamp to possess MJ, but you can't get a stamp because none are available) this is plausible.

This law led directly to OTL's Drug Laws.

Perhaps now MJ is legal but controlled ala alcohol and tobacco. Perhaps now Coke and Opiates are technically legal, but restricted to medical personnel/prescription and banned from food products or OTC by health code.

Europe/Asia: follows US lead for the most part.

Islam: forget it. Requires Goddamned Bats.