And on the number of people who become homeless. Unless leftists are willing to take their heads out of the sand then the problem will never end or be solved. But I wouldn't be surprised if it's in their best interests not to solve it..
I would wager that you run into a ton of people in your daily life who use drugs on a regular basis. You just don’t see them as drug users because they otherwise keep their lives together and are productive members of society. Frankly our war on drugs has done nothing but disenfranchise and harm people who would otherwise be law-abiding citizens.
Just because there are functioning members that are drug addicts doesn't mean we shouldn't toss the bathtub out with the bathwater. To me, enforcement should be on particular types of drugs and geared towards young people who's brain is still developing (doesn't stop till 25).
I'm fine with regulating drug use. What I object to very strenuously is that the government should regulate my experiences in life and that I should be jailed for trying something new. Every argument against drugs boils down to anecdotes plus an argument lumping the many functional drug users in with the guy OD'ing on the corner. In fact the guy OD'ing on the corner is not the tip of the iceberg.
Drugs don't frequently destroy lives, but the cops do so regularly when enforcing those laws. They take houses, cars, money, and time away from people. They take your children and brand you for the rest of your life as a criminal. Someone who is 21 has an entire life ahead of them. Are you really advocating that that kid be prosecuted, jailed, and branded simply because they chose an intoxicant that you don't approve of?
>> What I object to very strenuously is that the government should regulate my experiences in life and that I should be jailed for trying something new.
I'd agree with this if you also took care of all your healthcare personally. If the gov't is coming in and providing healthcare and services to the downtrodden, which it does especially for the homeless, then they should also work to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place. And since there's a link between hard drug use and future homelessness, enforcement of hard drug use becomes part of the gov't charter. You shouldn't expect gov't services AND the freedom to destroy your life to then depend on gov't services.
