Tempe (near Arizona State University) Arizona passed legislation for bars and restaurants and its landmark considering how many folks smoke out here. Many were complaining about the infringement on their liberty (Of course this state will still give you a drivers license that expires on your 65th birthday when you're 17)

While murder and high level crimes may decrease with drug legalization - the controlled substances in massive quantities distributed in liquor stores like malt liquor - will serve to keep the underclasses enslaved, petty crimes, domestic violence and robberies will escalate and the kids of the lower-middle spectra would likely also succumb to easy dope and narcotics.

I don't care about the war on drugs per'se - but legalization would also destroy our GNP.

Since much of the third world is highly addicted to narcotics of one form or another - we can see when a large percentage of the population is out of commission - the GNP drops like a rock.

Chicago, LA, NY, Miami would become even worse than they are. The free-for-all which would ensue in many sectors would lead to many overdoses and deaths, and while one can say its weeding out the bottom spectra of society - it would result in a whole new set of expenses and burdens on society, likely far more costly than the half-hearted war on drugs.

Imagine what legalized drugs would do to insurance premiums? "You use crack, speed, meth ok sign here thats an extra $5000 a month..."

What about healthcare? Hospitals? The run on ERs by OD's needing emergency care alone would be staggering - especially if it were legal because right now many of these folks don't go down to the local ER - they usually just are cared for by family or friends.

So suddenly our ERs would be filled with drug-cases and our already questionable medical practitioners would become even more overburdened.

Your chances of dying and malpractice in the socialized medical facilities in Amsterdam and Sweden are much higher - life and death have become a "numb" issue for folks who see kids OD daily.

Someone running around on crack is a danger to society and himself. As they move up the drug ladder - more and more expensive drugs will be needed - and their income will be flushed away.

Nicotine addiction will seem cheap in comparison to the kids who'll start with reefers and work their way up. Yes, mass production will bring down costs - but who will be mass producing these drugs?

If it is legalized - the pharmaceutical companies will quickly insure Columbian drugs are taxed and will wage their own war on imported drugs far more efficiently than the US Govt!

The pharmaceutical companies will get their lapdog - the FDA - to approve their version of each legalized drug - and like aspirin - even when mass produced it will NEVER be really cheap.

Yes, it seems like an easy answer - but when you compare the GNPs of legalized drug countries - you see how much better off the US is statistically in many areas!

I'd sooner see prostitution legalized than drugs - but preferably neither ;-)

SDAI-Tech1