The most dangerous drugs are legal in the USA

For those who do not believe in it, there are statistics from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. It shows that tobacco, alcohol, and opioid-based prescription painkillers are responsible for a significantly larger number of deaths annually than any other drugs combined.

So, in 2013, 437 400 people died from the effects of tobacco use in the United States. Disease-induced illnesses have claimed 29 thousands of lives, and the abuse of opioid painkillers has caused 16 235 deaths.

At the same time, heroin took 8 257 lives, and cocaine 4 944.

Naturally, the death rate from illegal drugs is lower simply because they are much harder to get. If heroin was sold in pharmacies without a prescription, then these figures would be very different. Still, tobacco, along with alcohol, are legal and widely available substances, the use of which, as science has long proven, accelerates death.

However, premature death is not the only harm to narcotic drugs. Some substances, such as alcohol and cocaine, provoke dangerous behavior that threatens not only victims of abuse, but also those around them. Other medications, such as psychedelics, can cause exacerbation of mental problems or illnesses.

Experts emphasize that the most dangerous drug-containing drugs - alcohol and tobacco - remain legal in the United States, Russia and many other countries, because they are closely connected with the economy and culture. It will be difficult for the authorities, if not impossible, to ban them. As for opioid painkillers, they are kept legal, as they serve the most important medical tasks — anesthetizing patients who are suffering incredibly from various kinds of diseases.