The Medicalization of Life is the natural result of drug prohibition in a scientistic society
by Ballard Quass, the Drug War Philosopher
March 10, 2026
I continue to be the only pundit to draw the obvious connections between drug prohibition and social problems. Most recently I pointed out how assisted suicide for the depressed cannot be discussed meaningfully without discussing the drug prohibition which renders it necessary in the first place (at least in the minds of the depressed)1. We outlaw all the drugs that could cheer a person up, and then we give them the right to kill themselves if they become too depressed. Go figure! But while I wait for any of the pundits in the debate to recognize my existence, I have discovered a new obvious connection between drug prohibition and social problems, to wit: the medicalization of life, first unveiled by mavericks like Ivan Illich2 and Thomas Szasz3, is powered by drug prohibition -- indeed, it could not exist without drug prohibition.
Most people would get on with their lives with the strategic use of godsend medicines and not listen to sermons about brain chemistry and their need to put their life in the hands of doctors. No one would see a reason to become a ward of the healthcare state by swallowing pills that are far harder to kick than heroin 4. Absent drug prohibition, no one would need to turn themselves into a childlike ward of the healthcare state.
Notes:
1: No one would need assisted suicide if we ended drug prohibition: what Claire Brosseau's case tells us about the warped mindset of the west when it comes to drugs DWP (up)
2: “Medical Nemesis : The Expropriation of Health : Illich, Ivan, 1926- : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive.” 2026. Internet Archive. 2026. https://archive.org/details/medicalnemesisex00illirich. (up)
3: “Medicalization of Everyday Life, the – Syracuse University Press.” 2026. Syr.edu. 2026. https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/953/medicalization-of-everyday-life/. (up)
4: Heroin versus Antidepressants DWP (up)
Ten Tweets
against the hateful war on US
"The homicidal drug is booze. There's more violence on a Saturday night in a neighborhood tavern than there has been in the whole 20-year history of LSD." -- Timothy Leary
Materialists are always trying to outdo each other in describing the insignificance of humankind. Crick at least said we were "a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules." Musk downsizes us further to one single microbe. He wins!
We should hold the DEA criminally responsible for withholding spirit-lifting drugs from the depressed. Responsible for what, you ask? For suicides and lobotomies, for starters.
I wonder if Nixon knew what a favor he was doing medical capitalism when he outlawed psychedelics. Those drugs can actually cure things, and there's no money in that.
I personally hate beets and I could make a health argument against their legality. Beets can kill for those allergic to them. Sure, it's a rare condition, but since when has that stopped a prohibitionist from screaming bloody murder?
The "acceptable risk" for psychoactive drugs can only be decided by the user, based on what they prioritize in life. Science just assumes that all users should want to live forever, self-fulfilled or not.
Mariani Wine is the real McCoy, with Bolivian coca leaves (tho' not with cocaine, as Wikipedia says). I'll be writing more about my experience with it soon. I was impressed. It's the same drink "on which" HG Wells and Jules Verne wrote their stories.
Rick Strassman isn't sure that DMT should be legal. Really?! Does he not realize how dangerous it is to chemically extract DMT from plants? In the name of safety, prohibitionists have encouraged dangerous ignorance and turned local police into busybody Nazis.
"There has been so much delirious nonsense written about drugs that sane men may well despair of seeing the light." -- Aleister Crowley, from "Essays on Intoxication"
People magazine should be fighting for justice on behalf of the thousands of American young people who are dying on the streets because of the drug war.
Click here to see All Tweets against the hateful War on Us
Next essay:
Previous essay:
No cookies, no ads.
Attention, Teachers and Students: Read an essay a day by the Drug War Philosopher and then discuss... while it's still legal to do so!
The Partnership for a Death Free America is a proud sponsor of The Drug War Philosopher website @ abolishthedea.com. Updated daily.
Copyright 2025, Brian Ballard Quass
Contact: quass@quass.com
(up)