Your mistake is failing to recognize that the very measures you favor are a major source of the evils you deplore. Of course the problem is demand, but it is not only demand, it is demand that must operate through repressed and illegal channels. Illegality creates obscene profits that finance the murderous tactics of the drug lords; illegality leads to the corruption of law enforcement officials; illegality monopolizes the efforts of honest law forces so that they are starved for resources to fight the simpler crimes of robbery, theft and assault.
Drugs are a tragedy for addicts. But criminalizing their use converts that tragedy into a disaster for society, for users and non-users alike. Our experience with the prohibition of drugs is a replay of our experience with the prohibition of alcoholic beverages.
-snip-
http://www.fff.org/freedom/0490e.asp
Oh yeah, elitists sounding off about legalizing drugs, like they really have experienced living with drug addicts, or seen the horrors inflicted on children and other family members. And of course they have such a great batting average on predicting crap like that, don’t they? Remember the billions spent on the War on Poverty?
“Drugs are a tragedy for addicts...criminalizing their use converts that tragedy into a disaster for society,..”
Just like everything they pontificate, the reality is a whole hell’uva lot worse than the lecture - particularly when they’re damn wrong.