Giving Compass' Take:

• In this Heritage Foundation piece, Robert DuPont discusses the trajectory of the U.S. drug and overdose epidemic, arguing that it should be a global priority to limit the commercialization of recreational drugs.

• If you agree with DuPont that limiting the use and commercialization of recreational pharmacology should be a priority, what is the best way that philanthropy could contribute to this goal? Does this mean offering aid to users and addicts, or working to limit the supply of the drugs?

• For an alternate view point which sees the commercialization of recreational marijuana as a way to lift of communities that have been negatively impacted by the war on drugs, click here.

Ending the modern drug epidemic may be impossible, but there are many good and practical ways to limit the damage caused by commercialized recreational drug use. The first crucial step is widespread recognition that recreational pharmacology—especially polydrug recreational pharmacology—is unhealthy and dangerous ... [it], sadly, will claim many more victims, and its heightened commercialization must be avoided in the interests of the public health.

[T]hose who use marijuana use more (not less) alcohol and more (not less) nicotine than do those who do not use marijuana. Marijuana users also use more opioids nonmedically than do nonusers of marijuana. Similarly, those who use alcohol and those who use nicotine use more marijuana than do those who do not use the two well-established legal drugs.

In the face of the overdose epidemic, which claimed more than 70,000 lives just in 2017, there is a justified focus on the overprescription and diversion of opioid pain medicines, which, if misused, can be addictive and even fatal. But it is synthetic opioids like fentanyl and related analogues that now are driving overdose deaths ... [I]llegal drugs, including opioids, come from sophisticated laboratories all over the world that provide many different addictive chemicals, all at higher potency, lower cost, and more convenient delivery.

This is what we can expect for the future of the illegal drug industry: (1) an increased number of addicting drugs, mostly synthetic; (2) higher-potency drug products; (3) lower prices for those products; and (4) more convenient delivery to users. The legal recreational drug market is equally innovative and able to reach far larger numbers of customers. Those trends feed into a global culture that is increasingly supportive both of personal choices about drug use and of the commercial production and promotion of drugs.

Read the full article about recreational pharmacology by Robert L. DuPont, M.D. at The Heritage Foundation