At the time of Coca-colas invention the coca leaf was used in various patient medicines, which was what Coca-cola was originally used for. By 1929 all traces of the drug had been removed from the product.
Just as cocaine was originally used for its medicinal purposes, marijuana could be used today for that same reason. Many cancer patients and other chronic sufferers have been trying for years to get marijuana legalized so that it can be used to relieve pain and suffering. Marijuana is known as a highly addictive drug, but as Vidal points out, people should have the rights to do drugs if that is what they desire. Cancer patients are going to die painfully if they are not given substances to help alleviate the suffering; marijuana helps to alleviate pain.
While some drugs help to relieve pain, like marijuana, others help to spread it. Heroin addiction is the number one cause for the spread of AIDS amongst heterosexuals. Government restrictions have prohibited the selling of hypodermic needles in many cities because it is drug paraphernalia. As a result, the same needles are shared by many heroin users, spreading AIDS like wildfire. It could be argued that they get what they deserve because the choose to do illegal drugs, but as Vidal points out "[s]ome people will always become drug addicts just as some people always become alcoholics, and it is just too bad[.]" and this would be the case if drugs were or were not legalized, only we would see the rate of AIDS among heterosexuals decrease. .
Aside from the spreading of AIDS, crime is another serious result of the illegal drug situation. The war on drugs has meant a vast diversion of law enforcement from violence to an attempt to control how people use their own bodies. The Washington Post reported in late 1990: "Florida released 130,000 felons early to make room in state prisons - largely for new drug offenders." Drug expert James Ostrowski observed: "In a world of scarce prison resources, sending a drug offender to prison for one year is equivalent to freeing a violent criminal to commit 40 robberies, 7 assaults, 110 burglaries, and 25 outs thefts.
