Prison destroys more lives than drugs. I've read many articles lately about our prison system. Most of them are hell holes.
Not to mention, hardly a place of respite from drug culture; manhy people booked for recreational drugs leave that system hooked on harder stuff. The term "correctional facility" is a sick joke.
If drugs were legal it would be a big "so what". All the drug related crime right wingers complain about could disappear. It would be even better if those drugs all grew on common trees in refined form, so people could learn not to fuck with them at zero cost. Or not, and ...
This is a sticking point for me. I know too many people raised by alcoholics and drug addicts and sometimes both kinds of addicts to say, yeah, legalization will make all the problems go away. It won't. It won't solve all of the domestic horrors that come with living with an addict. I also have a difficult time believing that drug addicts will stop stealing to support their habit--after all, alcoholics often steal to get money. Nor will they regain more emotional control and/or mental acuity so will no longer be violent and will be able to hold down jobs, look after themselves and any children they brought into the world, be decent family members or contributors to society. Of course some will do just that, be functional addicts just as there are functional alcoholics and functional addicts today, those who manage to hold down jobs and even manage to keep a family, stable housing, etc. Even with the highest functioning addict, those around them pay an extremely high price. Forever. I don't see getting high/drunk as being terrible. I see the fall out to those surrounding those who continually get drunk/high/both as terrible.
The point is all the harms you point to already exist and there's no reason to think they'll get worse with legalization.
And I'd much prefer the property crime of alcoholics to being mugged by a crack addict.
Legalization won’t make for fewer crack addicts. It won’t make fewer affects at all.
I agree that we already struggle, as a society, to deal with the issues I brought up. I’m concerned they will escalate as those who are actually deterred by the laws against drug use start using drugs. I’m concerned there already are not enough treatment programs for addicts, and not enough support for the families of addicts. Society is paying an enormous cost because of addiction. We really need to get a handle on addressing it before we expand the opportunities for abuse and addiction.
The biggest cost to society is locking people up and enforcing the drug laws. I understand your concerns. I just don't think that legalization or decriminalization will make things worse. In fact, I think it will make things better, especially since it would cost a lot less to offer rehab and job training compared to the cost of imprisoning people and spending so much money on law enforcement. Two of us have mentioned that when Portugal made their drug laws more lenient, there wasn't any increase in drug usage. I doubt that the illegality of drugs deters usage, or at least not much. We can probably agree that alcohol is one of the worst drugs out there and it's legal. Most people don't abuse it, but there will always be some that do. That would likely be the case if other drugs were legal.
A lot of young people experiment with drugs. I never did but my sister tried just about everything she could get her hands on. She drank too much when she was in her 20s, but then settled down by the time she was about 30. She doesn't even drink now. Weed makes her paranoid, but she does take an anti anxiety agent prescribed by her doctor. That's a control drug that is often abused too. She uses it very conservatively. It seemed like almost every young person was experimenting with drugs in the late 60s and early 70s. I was the straight weird one.
Perhaps if drugs were decriminalized, younger people who want to experiment could do so safely. Legalization would give the government more control over the substances. Drugs wouldn't be laced with unknown, dangerous substances. Anyway.....I've said more than enough. I doubt legalization at the federal level will come in my lifetime.
One more thing.....
There will always be abusive or neglectful parents, regardless if it's drug related or due to something else.
Very few people are going to suddenly want to shoot up heroin or use cocaine just because they are legal. But, speaking of cocaine, my husband once worked in a place that made contact lenses, where the doctors and most of the managers used coke, so they could work long shifts. Mr. Sohy never used, but he told me some crazy stories about that place. No surprise the place went bankrupt after a few years. That was in the 80s, when cocaine was very popular. At least it was in Raleigh, NC. Illegality doesn't stop people from using, and it's not the drugs, if used in moderation that ruins one's life, it's being arrested and given a long prison sentence that ruins one's life.
I get it though. We have different perspectives based on our experiences and influences.