Of course is these drugs were legalized they would be much more popular and used much more. If you use hardcore drugs, law will eventually reprimand you. The assurance that there is no law against using such substances would increase use. That is just basic logic.
The world's foremost experts on the subject have been unable to find any correlation between drug laws and the rate of drug use. If you have proof of such a correlation then please share it. And please explain why the number of tobacco smokers has been steadily declining for 30 years, even though didn't implement tobacco prohibition to accomplish that.
have always had a reservation for serious drugs, legalizing anything like cocaine or heroine is foolish talk and will never be reality.
No, what's foolish is believing that prohibition actually makes the situation better in some way. What's foolish is believing that drug laws actually have some effect on the rate of drug use in spite of the fact that the world's leading experts can't find such a correlation. All the health hazards associated with drug use are good reasons why they should not be
used. None of them are good reasons why they should be
illegal. None.
Marijuana is a possibility and one that I support... Keep in mind that if it was legalized, billions of dollars of education about it would be necessary. People also need to understand what they are putting into their body...
Absolutely, it would be irresponsible not to continue having drug education programs.
Hard drugs have the same problems, although its less clear cut considering the added danger of the substances. Ideally the substance would decriminalized enough so that criminals don't make and distribute it, but be illegal enough to prohibit use.
Prohibition doesn't make it safer, it makes it more dangerous.
Perhaps they could be bought in the pharmacy, but it still illegal to use without a doctors approval.
Illegal without a prescription is why most dealers are happy to sell valium, percocet, etc. Problem not solved.
As an example, lets look at marijuana use. It is normally referred to as either nonaddictive, or very minorly addictive. And yet, you see people engaging in self destructive behavior with some frequency among those who use it.
Do you assume that smoking marijuana is what made them that way? Or is it possibly the other way around?
Every place I have ever worked, there where people who would come to work fairly obviously high, who cover it just well enough to not get fired, and people who on lunch breaks go out and get high. This is obviously self destructive behavior.
And that's obviously very irresponsible use of marijuana.
By legalizing drugs, people are going to be more prone to try them, as the risk involved is no longer there, as well as a reduced social stigma. I believe this will increase the number of people with low level drug addiction, with potentially large negative effects.
Note that most of the above is supposition based on experience(ie, educated guesswork)
There is no evidence any of that would happen. Other countries who have decriminalized drugs didn't see the rapid increase in drug use or social acceptance of drugs that is always predicted by prohibitionists. It didn't take prohibition to turn our social attitudes around regarding tobacco. It took honest education and preseverance. Laws don't define social norms, it's the other way around.
But the druggies have a negative effect on society and their family, if they still have one...
That's true, but making the problem worse through prohibition is the wrong answer. Drug addiction is a medical problem, not a criminal problem, so the criminal justice system is the wrong tool for the job.
Just as a drugy would have to deal with their addiction, you will have to deal with the consequences of legalizing it. Crime is a major source of income and your children are the new customers, are you ready for that?
When you remove prohibition from the equation, most of the criminal problems associated with drugs disappear. That's because prohibition has caused most of them.
What I guess I am saying ... is that if low level addiction can cause self destructive behavior(it can), and if increased access would lead to more casual usage(I believe it would), that increased casual usage would lead to more low level addiction, and more self destructive behavior.
That's perfectly logical but your 2nd premise hasn't been proven. Even the world's foremost experts can't find any data to support the myth that drug use will increase if legalized.
Think of it this way. Alcohol is legal. Most people drink at least on occasion.
Alcohol use is common because it's socially acceptable, not because of the law.