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This is true, but the same is equally true of alcohol and tobacco. This still is not justification for locking people up for hurting themselves--especially when you are losing the drug war.

Losing the drug war? Hmm since 1979 drug use has been halved. You weren't around in the late 70's but it sure seems that you want to return to it. Take it from someone who knows, it wasn't a good time in America.

It is difficult to measure illicit drug use rates because this is an illegal activity. The government relies on surveys to determine the level of use, and under-reporting is common because illicit drug use is heavily stigmatized in the US. (click for additional information)

[National Research Council, "Informing America’s Policy On Illegal Drugs" (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2001): "It is widely thought that nonresponse and inaccurate response may cause surveys such as the NHSDA and MTF to underestimate the prevalence of drug use in the surveyed populations (Caspar, 1992)." (p. 93)]

Federal surveys show an increase in use, especially by adolescents, since 1990.

["Monitoring The Future: National Survey Results on Drug Use, 1975-2000, Volume 1: Secondary School Students" (Washington, DC: National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2001), p. 115, and and "Volume II: College Students and Young Adults Ages 19-40," p. 102.]

More reliable data on trends is overdose deaths and emergency room mentions of drugs. These numbers have escalated consistently since the 1980s, and both are at record highs.

[Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, US Dept. of Health and Human Services, "Year-End 2000 Emergency Room Data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (Washington, DC: DHHS, July 2001), p. 2.]