The criminalisation of drug use is a recent phenomenon, and for good reason: there is nothing inherently wrong with the act of altering your own consciousness. Morally, ethically and philosophically, there is no difference between beer and heroin. Drug use may be distasteful, is clearly risky to mental and physical health, and is often unproductive. But those labels could be applied to a host of everyday activities, even ones not involving alcohol or tobacco.

Drugs aren't good for you, but they are nowhere near as bad as some would have you believe. Most users will not become addicted, nor will they suffer long-term damage. Even ice, the bogey du jour, isn't a guaranteed portal to hell. Australian Drug Foundation statistics show 7 per cent of Australians have used it, but only 2 per cent did so in the past year. That's a lot of people who bought the ticket but didn't take the ride.

There is a body of thought, led by Columbia University neuroscientist Carl Hart, that drugs themselves contribute only partially to addiction – that misery, poverty and lack of alternative routes to happiness are equally to blame. It is no coincidence that ice is a bigger problem in depressed rural areas than the affluent inner cities.

And it is those who do become addicted who stand to gain the most from a rational approach. Money now used to fight crime could be spent on treatment: studies estimate that a dollar spent on policing drugs returns $2 to the community, whereas each dollar spent on treatment returns $7. Moreover, cheaper, cleaner, reliably available drugs would eliminate the need to cheat and steal to fund a habit: an Australian Institute of Criminology study found nearly half the heroin users in our jails were there for crimes committed to raise money, while the figure for amphetamines was about one-third.

The greatest benefit of legalisation, though, would be to kick out the prop that supports organised crime. By artificially restricting the supply of recreational drugs, we have made them enormously profitable for those bold and violent enough to deal in them. The illicit drug market in Australia alone is worth an estimated $17 billion a year. Globally the figure is in the trillions. The consequences of that are all around, from Melbourne's gangland wars to the killing of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan to the continuously unfolding tragedy in Mexico.