True, I doubt dispute that, but there are far less instances of people killing because they can't get their perscription drugs as opposed to the illegal drugs.
the world will not be better if weed/hash were legal...
Once again, I'm not disputing that and I am under no illusions that legalizing illegal drugs will "make the world a better place", it WILL however sharply decrease the violence related to drug gangs fighting over territory and enforcing their markets. Making proxy drugs available that don't have the addictive qualities of the current street drugs, while still allowing for a high is one spinoff of this plan.
why don't we as Americans STOP our worship of drugs completely....
That would be nice, everyone just getting along, drug free, violence free. Its a pipe dream though.
The problems related to illegal drugs can be boiled down to two:
1) Issues of addiction and the lives ruined from it. This would include the (usually) petty crimes of addicts, but is primarily about how their own lives are destroyed.
2) Issues of the black-market trade, nationally and internationally, the immense organized crime networks supporting it, and the incredibly severe violence associated with it—for users and non-users alike...
Ollie North obviously is focusing on #2 here, and it really is the worst part of the two issues of illegal drug use.
However, in spite of the fact that various strong hallucinogens have been available for hundreds of years, the TRADE was never a source of organized crime and murder UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT GOT IN THE BUSINESS OF ATTEMPTING TO CHANGE BEHAVIOR BY PROHIBITING CERTAIN DRUGS.
It is interesting to me that old line conservatives like North think such is the proper role of government...as it seems to me Government attempting to modify the behavior of free people is really a liberal/socialist approach, and not one for limited, constitutional governance.
Legalization, of course will not eliminate the #1 problem above....but, then again, neither has criminalization. As a matter of fact, the addiction rate in countries like ours, with stiff drug laws, IS WORSE than in places like Holland, where such laws are not enforced.
Logically then, if you’re really concerned about addiction...drugs like marijuana and even cocaine should be legalized, regulated, and taxed... But even if it did make the #1 problem worse (or it stayed the same—as we live in a very imperfect world) at least the worse problem....of terrible violence associated with the trade, the #2 problem above, would be largely if not completely eliminated.