>Legalization of 'hard' drugs would certainly remove the 'forbiddenness' as you say. It would also remove some (if not all) of the criminal element now involved in importing and distributing these drugs

I decided to discuss this thread with my 14-year-old yesterday. I should start out by saying that this is a really good kid running in a really good crowd, so none of this has personal immediacy for him. OTOH, he's also a tremendous observer of people - reads them like books.

His view on legalization was that it's a bad idea. He points out that we'd probably put age restrictions (likely 18) and that, by the time people are 18, they're beyond the "forbidden fruit" aspect that some here have mentioned as an argument for legalization.

He also pointed out that, while we might get rid of an underground economy based on drugs, we'd replace it with a legal economy based on drugs.

Both good points, I thought.

Tamar