Reply #78: The problem with drug control

[tomorrowsashes]

The problem with making it a crime to use certain drugs is that it creates draws a large segment of society into prisons, which are not healthy in the least. If drugs were legalized, there could be more in terms of a support system to help reform addicts, instead of locking them away, and people could get their drugs that aren't filled with other chemicals.

Heroin, for instance, is pretty dangerous in its pure form, but what makes it worse than just about any other drug is the incredibly unsanitary conditions in which it is made and taken in, and the extra chemicals added to increase addiction. If Heroin were legal, people could get what they knew was clean drugs, and clean needles, and many of the problem associated with the drug go away. Most people don't do hard drugs because they are really unhealthy, not because they're illegal. The only thing making drugs illegal does is make it more profitable for the scum selling them.

If drugs were made legal, the price would go drastically down, and this could be made up for with taxes, which would go towards reforming people who are addicted. Drug abuse is a serious problem, but the criminal justice system isn't the right way to deal with it.