More people using drugs would mean more addicts, more traffic fatalities, more human and economic costs. Since drugs are controlled by the Dutch government, purity and safety are totally assured, whereas in the US, many deaths and injuries result from impurities. If American doctors controlled access and distribution of hard drugs, the task and the money moves from a ruthless underworld to a highly responsible group of people who have their patients' best interests at heart. In the United States, the war on drugs costs our society billions of dollars every year. From the thousands now jailed for marijuana possession, the inner cities torn apart from gang violence to the billions granted to government agencies in a futile attempt to stop illicit drugs, this war cannot be won, and can barely be stemmed.
Few teenagers trust the government today.
The idea that the government just makes things up comes as a shocking and bitter revelation. America's youth needs straight facts and an approach other than total prohibition. We need a new mindset in Washington.