Of course drug use should be decriminalized and made a public health issue. Actual experiments in doing so are unequivocal: this policy works. Whereas the "War on Drugs", begun by Nixon in the seventies, has clearly failed.
Here's a more optimistic story from Portugal:
Here's a more optimistic story from Portugal:
More than 15 years ago, Portugal decriminalized drug possession for personal use and created a system for drug treatment and social reintegration; cannabis use has leveled, the number of heroin addicts is down 70 percent, and deaths by overdoses have also been reduced. In the Netherlands, a cafeteria-style system has created a legal work force around cannabis and, in part because users are not prosecuted, that country's jails are virtually empty. Recently, a lack of business has led to the closing of a few Dutch prisons. Drug use — of all drugs — is a health issue, not a criminal one. And it should be dealt with as such.
