But I do stand by my statement regarding the social and economic costs of legal drugs like alcohol. While I don't want to stop my neighbor from drinking beer in mass quantities, I also don't want him or her to beat their spouses or drive cars. As a former public defender, I saw many of these otherwise good "neighbors" do some pretty awful things while exercising their freedom to kill their own brain cells. BTW, don't make assumptions that everyone who visits FR is a Repussican (or a dummycrat) unless you've seen the voter registration rolls.
I wouldn't stand by that, either. You're not weighing all the costs and benefits of the WOD if you think it "costs" more to keep drugs illegal. In terms of money alone you've got to factor in all the expenditures of drug enforcement at the state, local and federal level. You've got to factor in the costs of building and maintaining prisons. You've also got to factor intangible costs such as the lost production for those who are incarcerated. The costs to legalize are far smaller than the costs to maintain the war on drugs.