Why do you think Drugs are OK?

[ArnoldRimmer]

Drugs are not okay.
But drugs exist, and people will always use them because they are tempting. Mankind has used drugs for thousands of years, and there is hardly anyone on this planet who has never taken any drugs (so not even alcohol, tobacco etc.)

The separation between legal drugs like alcohol and illegal drugs like marijuana is completely arbitrary, and in my opinion, even quite dangerous, because it causes the vast majority of drug users to not even consider themselves as drug users consuming very dangerous and addictive substances. No! That's what only these disgusting poor users of illegal substances do, while they are just doing what everyone around them is doing as well, so it must be okay.

It's a matter of how drug addiction is seen:
The current policy is to consider drug addicts as evil criminals harming society, who must therefor be severely punished.
But I think the better and more realistic approach is to consider them as people with personal and psychological problems that are almost exclusively harming the drug user himself, people who need help, because they are in a situation that is extremely hard to get out of by oneself. The current drug policy however just makes their situation worse, both for the drug addicts and society. Instead of helping them with their problems, we punish them for having them. They cannot talk about their problems with others, because they would admit to doing something illegal, even though they are probably not harming anyone but themselves.

The current drug policy is a bit like trying to fight AIDS or cutting oneself by declaring it illegal and punishing people with life-long jail sentences.

I've always gotten the impression that people who are against legalizing drugs are mainly hypocrites with little to no practical experience and knowledge on the topic, and who for some bizarre reason believe that legalizing a drug means that using this drug is perfectly "okay" and safe. A kind of government seal of approval. But I think that's the wrong view: Drug policy should rather be about minimizing the actual problems caused by drugs, because there are problems in this world that don't vanish simply because they are being outlawed.