[AnthonyMouse]

I wonder what the war on drugs would look like if we took prison out of the equation. So make using drugs the only offense and the penalty is the equivalent of a parking ticket. Selling, buying or possessing drugs would all be perfectly legal (to the extent cigarettes are) save that they provide instant probable cause for a drug test.

So you lose the possibility for the deterrent itself to ruin your life, but you still have a pretty significant social deterrent because use is still formally illegal so use in public space is impractical because the cops will show up and start issuing citations.

[WildUtah]

You'd still have violent drug gangs because dealing would be illegal. They'd need to continue lethal violence because they couldn't go to court to settle contract and credit disputes.

[AnthonyMouse]

Do read again.