Reply #17: Probably a couple of reasons

[Nikia]

1. Making drugs illegal makes drugs less available. Children and other vunerable people are less likely to use various drugs if they are less available (except if they live in drug ridden areas). I know that if drugs were legal that we could prohibit sales to children. It is some people's way of thinking though and there is a big deal associated with the age of being able to buy something for the first time.
2. Drug users are more likely to committ other crimes to support their habit. I suppose that depends on the drug and if prices would remain high with legalization. There is also some concern that people under certain drugs would be more likely to committ crimes because the drug would impair them in a bad way, just like alcohol does. Hmmm.
3. People using certain drugs are more likely to die young and/or have emergency room incidents. Just like alcohol.
I actually think that ther may be some merits to these arguements when taken together, especially my first and last arguements. I don't think that we really want to be making some of these drugs available to more people. Unfortunately, if these drugs were sold for the first time in stores, I believe that we would see a large number of first time users of cocaine, heroin, and meth. Many of these people would have little to no knowledge about what to expect, although careful instructions could be on the container. Still, no one wants bad things to happen to their sheltered young adult. Unfortunately, bad things can happen to people some of these drugs the first time that they use them.
As I said in my reasons, many of the same arguements can apply to alcohol. Our culture has a long history though of responsible alcohol use (as well as irresponsible). I think that the same could become true of marijuana if people were more comfortable being open about it. As for some other drugs, I don't know if is worth the risk of developing that. Can people responsibly use meth?
That said, I think that drug users and low level dealers who also use should get rehabilitation. I think that people that make significant profits off of hard drugs though should do time. They are doing a business that is harmful to individuals and society.