Legalised drugs such as tobacco and alcohol have arguably a lesser immediate effect Then cocaine or heroin, and the effects of the addiction are much generally much less severe. It is patronisingly stupid to log all drugs under the one umbrella and therefore say that if you allow one that the others should be allowed. This argument is the refuge of fools.

The difficulty is that the young and impressionable will experiment with drugs as well as other silly activities such as as dangerous driving and unprotected sex, and social Darwinism will weed out the less fit.

It is unfortunate that those who are predisposed to die as a consequence of this activity are sometimes pretty and ostensibly innocent. Unfortunately foolishness is not correlated with good looks, but the media will focus on the young and pretty because it sells newspapers. Such is the whoredom of the media.

Without law enforcement agencies we would have anarchy. Blaming law enforcement for the stupid activities of illicit drug takers in similar to blaming the police for death or injury arising from high-speed car chases. Such deaths area consequence of attempting to constrain anarchy on the roads. Without such constraint, the death would probably be higher. I believe there is a similar situation with with drugs. I suspect that the deaths from overdose would be much higher if we had open slather.

Unfortunately the bong-heads advocating this approach probably has their logical capabilities seriously impaired by their illicit activities.

1. The number of deaths from cigarettes and alcohol astronomically outstrips that of all other drugs (legal and illegal) combined.
2. The grouping of drugs into illegal and legal categories is a result of historical processes, not rational thought and discussion.
3. Criminilisation and attempts to police the use of drugs has been shown to simply affect the given price of a drug and have little impact on usage.

On a more abstract level, why is it the business of the broader public what a person chooses to do with their body? Cigarettes and alcohol have the future healthcare costs of the consumer built into the price in the form of taxes, why not so with any drug?

It is a strange situation that we find ourselves spending money to control an uncontrollable industry, creating a fertile environment in which criminals flourish and imposing public values that are a hangover from previous decades on the individuals of today.

Meantime the politicians have made life more dangerous by giving the Underbelly of this nation a great business opportunity. Anyone else notice that when Heroin became scarcer that ice suddenly became a problem? Just say no as a form of sex education leads to unwanted pregnancies. Just say no to drugs mean that nothing can be believed. As this article notes young people are not stupid.