[jeepgrandch]

When drug addicts are treated as criminals, they have a lower tendency to seek rehab (if caught they go to jail so I don't see how that benefit society to clog up the prisons) and a higher tendency to commit crimes to feed their habit. Where drugs are legal but strictly regulated, the crime rate goes down since addicts do not have to hit someone over the head with a lead pipe to acquire drug money. Needle exchanges with addicts lower the incidence of HIV/AIDS transmission. Lastly, where drugs are legalized and regulated, the addiction rate has actually gone down slightly relative to where drugs are illegal. At the very least, if you have addicts in society, I would rather they get their fix from an approved supplier rather than me becoming a victim of a crime to support their illegal habit. Mind you, I am speaking generally since what applies to marijuana and heroin may not apply to other drugs. The nastier the drug, the stronger the regulation. Nevertheless, I think drug legalization without promoting it achieves the most practical, rather than simply moral, balance of individual and societal needs.