[donna]

A society’s first line of defense is not the law but customs, traditions and moral values. These behavioral norms, mostly transmitted by example, word-of-mouth and religious teachings, represent a body of wisdom distilled over the ages through experience and trial and error. They include important thou-shalt-nots such as shalt not murder, shalt not steal, shalt not lie and cheat, but they also include all those courtesies one might call ladylike and gentlemanly conduct.

Policemen and laws can never replace these restraints on personal conduct. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. This failure to fully transmit value norms to subsequent generations represents another failing of the greatest generation.
- Walter Williams, Nov. 21, 2007

[Wonder Warthog]

"A society’s first line of defense is not the law but customs, traditions and moral values. These behavioral norms, mostly transmitted by example, word-of-mouth and religious teachings, represent a body of wisdom distilled over the ages through experience and trial and error."

All true. But the problem is that you assume everybody is a weak-minded idiot, and that legalization will lead to universal addiction. This is simply not the case, and has never BEEN the case. Drug over-users are a tiny fraction of the population even where usage is completely legal.

These sources have data for the Netherlands:

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/67

http://www.ukcia.org/research/DutchPolicyAndCrimeStatistics.html

From what I see, it looks like legalization would be a good thing.