Cocaine "is no worse than whiskey" and is only illegal because it comes from Latin America, said Colombian President Gustavo Petro, whose nation is the world's biggest cocaine producer and exporter.
The bars on that suggest that alcohol has a higher harm to others, but crack cocaine has higher harm to users. Regular cocaine is a smidge worse overall than tabacco.
I dunno that this really sells it beyond being able to say “it’s not as bad as alcohol and heroin”.
That said, addiction should clearly be treated as a mental health issue, not a criminal issue. That goes for alcohol, cocaine, heroin, or tobacco.
The bars on that suggest that alcohol has a higher harm to others, but crack cocaine has higher harm to users. Regular cocaine is a smidge worse overall than tabacco.
I dunno that this really sells it beyond being able to say “it’s not as bad as alcohol and heroin”.
That said, addiction should clearly be treated as a mental health issue, not a criminal issue. That goes for alcohol, cocaine, heroin, or tobacco.