[UncleEntity]

> So far legalization has not proven to solve the problems of demand or addiction.

Those are really biological issues.

If they were to make tobacco illegal tomorrow that also wouldn't solve for demand or addiction but would merely make it vastly more inconvenient for people to get their nicotine fix. But, as they've doing for (at least) the last 40+ years, if they try to get people to either not start or stop on their own (i.e. without jail time) then the problem just kind of fixes itself.

Two choices really and one leads to having the largest prison population on the planet with no real end in sight to the "drug epidemic".

[austincheney]

I am not advocating for criminalization.

Demand for tobacco id down specifically because there is ample activity and messaging to influence people away from interest in tobacco. If this same level of influence were applied for all drugs people would be generally much healthier.

[circlefavshape]

+1

Some substances are psychoactive, and can be pleasurable to take. That's at the root of the demand, and can't ever really be "solved"

[austincheney]

Education and behavior are always solvable problems. Denial of such opens people to manipulation and opportunity loss.