Jacob's Sullum's article "Smoke Alarm" (May 1996) is putatively an attempt to put the widespread social disapproval for marijuana consumption in historical perspective. It is also, however, meant to provide an argument showing that those social concerns are an overreaction, just as were turn-of-the-century attitudes toward cigarette smoking. Sullum's argument seems to be: 1) Opposition to cigarette smoking was based on moral condemnation rather than questions of physical hygiene; 2) those moral concerns were spurious; 3) current opposition to pot smoking is also based on moral condemnation; 4) so it, too, must be spurious. Unfortunately, Sullum's argument fails twice over. First, the argument is fallacious even if we concede the truth of its historical claims. Suppose that the moralistic campaign against cigarette smoking really was spurious. It doesn't follow that the moralistic campaign against pot smoking is spurious unless cigarette and pot smoking are fundamentally similar activities. Sullum produces no evidence for this assumption, simply implying that anyone who believes otherwise is buying into anti-pot propaganda. Unfortunately, this assumption begs the question: Even if cigarette smoking left us morally intact, pot smoking could be different. Sullum never grapples with this issue.
Second, Sullum never explains why the moral condemnations of cigarette smoking were spurious. Nicotine is, after all, an addictive drug. Arguably, addictions do undermine the conditions of rational agency and moral responsibility. There is moral significance to the fact that people sometimes want to quit smoking but find to their surprise that they can't. In many conceptions of morality, a person is blameworthy for voluntarily putting him or herself into such a demeaning position. If that is right, then cigarette smoking is morally problematic.
It's one thing to oppose the war on drugs because it threatens the rule of law and procedural rights. It's another thing to make lame excuses for the moral and intellectual deficiencies of potheads. The former argumentative strategy will help libertarians make the case for decriminalization to a public that is skeptical about the war on drugs; the latter won't.
Irfan Khawaja
Princeton, NJ
Mr. Sullum replies: As I stated, the comparison between yesterday's fears about tobacco and today's fears about marijuana was intended to be suggestive, not conclusive. Obviously, the fact that people once believed things about tobacco that seem silly now does not prove that contemporary concerns about marijuana are unfounded. But given the pharmacological differences between the two substances, the parallels are striking. They illustrate the point that a drug's reputation is shaped by factors other than chemistry. And yes, the way that perceptions of tobacco (and other drugs) have shifted over the years should give pause to anyone who automatically accepts extravagant claims about the hazards of marijuana.
An examination of the scientific record confirms that skepticism is appropriate. As I noted, there is no credible evidence that marijuana in moderation causes brain damage, destroys motivation, saps productivity, contributes to crime, or leads to "hard" drugs. Like any other psychoactive substance, marijuana can be abused, but it is generally used responsibly--a point that Irfan Khawaja's sweeping condemnation of "potheads" obscures. If by saying that addictions may "undermine the conditions of rational agency and moral responsibility," Mr. Khawaja means to imply a kind of pharmacological compulsion that negates free will, I disagree. In any event, it is one thing to suggest that cigarette smoking is "morally problematic," quite another to say that it damages intelligence, turns boys into liars and criminals, makes students and workers lazy, and fosters opium addiction. I believe that it is fair to say that these ideas have been discredited. If Mr. Khawaja can offer evidence to the contrary, I would be eager to see it.