The war on drugs has gone on for decades and has failed by a myriad of measures.

This battle has cost billions of dollars, filled jails worldwide with non-violent offenders, and destroyed many lives in the process. It clearly failed at its objective in attempting to make drugs difficult to obtain, because despite the ongoing battle against 'drugs' they seem more readily available today than ever.

Certain authority figures would try to have us believe that the laws against drugs are what keeps people from becoming addicts, but we should know better, that this isn't the truth.

For many people, they simply aren't interested in doing drugs whether they are legal or not. Making it legal isn't likely to persuade a large portion of individuals to suddenly adopt the habit. And despite efforts to criminalize various substances and plants etc, those who have been dedicated to obtaining them have done so despite the threat of violence that would be coming from the state in-return.

After Portugal sought to decriminalize drugs, they didn't see a surge in drug addicts as a result. Since legalization they've seen a variety of benefits, such as a decline in overdoses, a reduction in drug-related crime, and a decrease in HIV and hepatitis infection rates.

In Washington and Colorado, reports came out suggesting the same, that they saw use go down for cannabis after legalization. Turns out, the state wasn't responsible for keeping people from engaging in this bad behavior, despite their legalization of cannabis, it hasn't prompted the drastic surge in interest like you might expect it would.

In Canada, where cannabis recently became legalized just this week, a recent survey suggests that many Canadians aren't likely to consume cannabis despite the recent changes in legislation.

The survey found that 8 out of 10 said they were not interested in smoking once it became legal.

Imagine that, they don't need the government to tell them not to do it, they simply don't have the interest. If they did and the substance was still criminalized, then they probably wouldn't let that stop them. After all, many dispensaries have been operating throughout Canada illegally for years--not without incident however. You can still find many drug addicts as well, despite the continued effort with the war on other drugs.

Drug use is a matter of personal liberty because it is an extension of someone's personal choice and that choice alone shouldn't make them a criminal, worthy of being locked-up. The drug war has failed and can never achieve its intended goals.

Meanwhile, decriminalization in various circumstances has already proven to us that we have nothing to fear. Unfortunately, most of the harm that's endured as a result of the drug war and drug use, comes as a consequence of prohibition and it would lessen the violence and the tremendous waste to further implement decriminalization of not only cannabis but all 'drugs' for that matter.

Pics:
pic1 - pixabay
pic 2 -JusticeNotJails
pic 3 - giphy

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