Why not let people use drugs? For the same reason we don't let them drive drunk or refuse to wear seatbelts. The Japanese legalized heroin in occupied China in

Why not let people use drugs? For the same reason we don't let them drive drunk or refuse to wear seatbelts. The Japanese legalized heroin in occupied China in the 1930s, as a way of encouraging the Chinese race to die out -- and heroin dependency isn't a pretty way to go. Marijuana is less potent (although modern marijuana has been bred for potency), but what's true of heroin is true of other hard drugs (and persistent hallucinogens) as well.