>I wish drug bans would work. Obviously, they don't. But legalizing it gives the VERY SCARY prospect of someday going to the pharmacy or grocery store with my kids and seeing that they can get all the cocaine, heroin, or crack they want. And that's likely why we'll never see legalization. Personally, I'll educate my kids about the dangers of drugs (and alcohol and tobacco)--but we can't count on every parent to do the same. But if kids really want to do drugs, they'll do them even if it's illegal. May as well make it as safe as possible.
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Drug bans do work, we just don't have them. The so called "drug war" has been a joke for decades. I'm more for a program that hits the users, then forces them into rehab with random testing. Fail the test, go to jail. It doesn't take too many that fail to get the message out on the street. The problems go much deeper than the drugs though. Single parent homes are breeding grounds for wayward youth, particularly when it's a female who has to work several jobs to make ends meet and the kids raise themselves in the streets. It's a miracle when one of those kids makes it to 21 without a criminal record.