The "problem" with cigarettes is that they are addictive and bad for you. The "problem" with alcohol is that some people drink to excess (as most studies indicate that mild consumption of alcohol--at least wine--actually has overall beneficial effects to health). And alcohol can also be addictive, for a relatively small percentage of the population.
Legalization would not in my view cure all of these ills.
Of course legalization will never "cure all of these ills!" Has legalized nicotine or alcohol "cured all of the ills" caused by those drugs?
The "ills" that legalization DOES cure include:
1) At the federal level, it ends the federal government violating The Law, and usurping powers that are reserved for "the States or the people."
2) It turns drug use from a criminal matter to a health matter, which is more appropriate. (Crimes should be reserved for those matters in which there is a complainant. Because without a complainant, the government has to go to extraordinary lengths to obtain a prosecution.)
3) It dramatically decreases the price of drugs, thus dramatically reducing the money paid to terrorists. (It's ironic--not to mention dishonest--how the federal government blames USERS of drugs for financing terrorism...when it is the federal LAWS that actually dramatically boost the money to terrorists.)
4) Legalization promotes safe use. Needles can be clean. Cocaine/marijuana impurities can be eliminated. Doses can be controlled to "safe" amounts. (Just like cigarettes, there may be no truly "safe" amount of many drugs.)
1) Drug abuse does not happen in a vacum whether illegal or not.
2) Equivocating all drugs from nicotine to fentanyl as equally problematic is simply incorrect in my opinion.
Some drugs like nicotine, alcohol, or and pot to a degree are drugs that either have minimal intoxication inherently or may be consumed with that in mind. Pot barely qualifies in that regard these days given the quality of most sensemilla. Any drug beyond that realm is literally only abused. That is...it is taken to get rather high...not just relaxed or a little "buzzed". Last October, I was in emergency for an inflamed colon...yep middle age sucks LOL....anyhow they gave me an IV (slowly registered) of 16 mg of morphine and 100 mg of pheneragn as a kicker and anti-emitic. Man ...that was the highest I've been in over 20 years. I am VERY familiar with personal drug use and beyond. It felt so damn good ...I refused to nod and couldn't wait to get home a couple of hours later to lay on the couch and have a cigar and enjoy my high. Now, if I were able to go buy liquid morphine on a whim, would I go home and just pull out my works and shoot myself up on the sofa with a good dose while my wife is cooking supper and my soon to be 4 children are watching cartoons. The mere thought of that level of intoxication readily available for anyone is crazy. We have enough problems with drunks at home or work or in their cars. One could say the same about acid or crack or crank or X or God forbid Ketamine. I don't know how anyone can use these types of drugs responsibly and not affect those around them or society in general. There is a reason that even in the third world where pharmacies are very lax, they don't hand out morphine sulfate ampules like candy.
That's my perspective as an adult and a parent. I have a feeling quite a few of the pro-drug crowd on FR will sing a different tune when and if they enter family life....especially with regards to hard drugs.
I've watched 30 years of drug use and drug dealing and can tell you that no drug use is totally benign and rarely productive. I haven't smoked pot in 20 years but there was a time I thought it was something I would do forever. "Da herb! Mon" it's natural and all that. I was so naive.
I think the pro-drug camp on this forum is of two minds. One are the dopers who have a personal stake in legalization and the other are Libertarians and a few Conservatives who oppose it strictly on privacy grounds. While I may be a little sympathetic with the latter reasoning, I simply cannot support total legalization of all drugs.
Regards.