Legalized drugs WILL get in the hands of children/teens in far greater quantities
Why didn’t they do so (”it’s for the CHILLUN”) in revolutionary times? Not a lot of talk about child drunkenness, even.
We’ve substituted crutches for fear of the Lord. And it is sad to see a church luminary do that. Jesus challenged the attitude of the paralytic: “Do you want to get well?”
There was once a societal taboo about drugs and that did more than the law at keeping them at bay. It will return once government gets out of the business.
Furthermore, the solution for folks that do drugs is successful rehab, not prison.
The best reason to avoid drugs is that they are deadly...not that they are illegal.
Have you talked to teens recently? They can already get any popular drug they wish. Usually right inside school.
And so can adults. If you go to any popular night spot and dress right, dealers will give you their business cards and you can get any drug you like delivered faster than a pizza. They obviously have local cops in their pocket.
The drug war is pointless except for the vast transfer of wealth to criminals, bought politicians and corrupt cops. Drugs are far easier to smuggle and hundreds of times more profitable than liquor during the bootlegger era so you will never put a dent in the industry. Even in places where the death penalty is handed down, people still risk their lives to get rich and drugs are available.
I've never met a single person in my life who stayed away from drugs because they are illegal. They stay away because they don't enjoy them or know the consequences of using. All we can do is educate people on the consequences in a real world, educated manner. Something the stupid “anti-drug” campaigns always failed to do. It's almost as if they wanted people to laugh at them and use more drugs...