Addiction is more complicated than "a lack of self control." Addicts generally don't kick the habit and then start to reintegrate into society; it's the other

Addiction is more complicated than "a lack of self control." Addicts generally don't kick the habit and then start to reintegrate into society; it's the other way around. If stability is introduced into their lives, they become less dependent the escape offered by the drug. In fact, when their drug use is not criminalized, the vast majority of addicts are able to lead normal lives. This has been shown multiple times in multiple places, even in America as the drug war was gearing up. Moreover, even the drugs with bad reputations (heroin, cocaine) do not result in addiction for most people who try them. Those who become addicts largely do so because they have issues that they are using the drug to cope with. This is evidenced by the lower rates of addiction and petty crime in places where drugs are legalized rather than the sharp increase one would expect if drugs are as dangerously addictive as we are led to believe. There's also no need for a nanny state solution for purity testing. There are already mobile chem labs at festivals which will test your substance for you and tell you exactly what's in it, and such services exist elsewhere also. Furthermore, if drugs were legalized, there would be far fewer instances of adulterated sales to begin with. It's done by unscrupulous dealers--already profiting from the inflated prices that a black market brings--who take advantage of the buyer's inability to go to law enforcement to report fraud. It's also done by addicts themselves who need to make money to get their next fix: it's easier to cut some of your stuff with baby powder and sell it than it is to steal money or property. Return to doctors the ability to prescribe narcotics to addicts and this problem virtually disappears. The biggest cause of most (if not all) of the problems that the drug war is supposed to combat is the drug war itself. It's been that way since the beginning.