Somehow, it's mostly accepted that making it harder to intentionally kill oneself is not the right way to stop people from committing suicide. Yet at the same time, we still consider this total war on drugs the correct approach to preventing people from killing themselves with drug abuse. The sibling comment is right.
Alcohol is legal, how does it follow that there should be more iterations of addictive substances that do more damage to the fabric of society?
Isn't, at all. Something not being easily available makes it more attractive and makes people more curious about it. Such is human psychology.
Prohibition of anything for which there's demand does not work. It can't work. In general, laws only work when the majority of the society is on board with them. If the only people who are willing to enforce a law are police officers, then such a law only works when there's a police officer nearby.
> Alcohol is legal, how does it follow that there should be more iterations of addictive substances that do more damage to the fabric of society?
Again, if there's demand, there will be supply, regardless of legality. And since there will be supply of addictive substances either way, it makes sense to legalize them. The legalization will remove the criminal element from the cost, making it significantly cheaper, and would also ensure high quality/purity. I see no downsides here.
Things that cause drug abuse, especially the most harmful ones, are:
* lack of education. This was sometimes on purpose, with drug companies lying to get people hooked on opioids
* poverty and despair in general
* mental health
* many other things
Those can and should be fought, and they are a lot more effective than policing overall, and also a lot cheaper.
It's more common to find people who start addictions from a financially stable position where they have some discretional income. Rarely do people begin addictions where they have to decide between food or a drug they're not addicted to.
From the very beginning the American war on drugs was motivated by racism. It’s just another state-organized genocide in disguise.
