[pstuart]

Please bear in mind that the origins of drug prohibition had little to do with "protecting" people, and were instead instruments of oppression.

Drug abuse a health problem, not a criminal problem. We spend orders of magnitude on the criminal side and, guess what? It only makes things worse.

Legalize. Regulate. Tax.

It's very simple, and is the only correct answer.

[robbrown451]

Maybe. I think it's unfortunate that people who are saying their answer is "the only correct" one are probably going to slow down progress.

Laws aren't always about crimes, by the way. Not wearing seatbelts or motorcycle helmets shouldn't be seen as a criminal problem, but we still have laws about it. Maybe you disagree with those laws, and that's fine.

I think it is less fine to say that your perspective on the issue is the only one that can be reasonably seen as valid.

[pstuart]

Please don't confuse my adamance in defining the problem as an applied ideology in the real world. I'm pretty damn pragmatic and don't play purity politics.

I'm sticking with my statement, because it's true. I welcome reasonable refutations to it.

You overlooked the word "regulate". That means laws, but applied towards health and safety of products sold, rather than punishing the consumer.

We still need DUI laws (and related), but otherwise it's a personal choice all the way down.