I've seen friends destroy their relationships and careers over addiction. I've also seen a burned out house where a dealer set fire to it with the occupant ins

I've seen friends destroy their relationships and careers over addiction. I've also seen a burned out house where a dealer set fire to it with the occupant inside to incentivise future debtors to pay up faster. I've seen the grey market involved in buying such things suck far harder on somebody's lifeblood than buying alcohol would an alcoholic. So ... my gut feeling is that, overall, legalisation would probably be an improvement. But I think that, if so, it would be an improvement overall, and that doing the math carefully beforehand is a really good idea. Or: I think you and MichaelGG both have valid points, and that any opinion on this subject that doesn't include both is probably going to fall short of the mark. (to be clear, I'm replying to this specific comment largely because of your last line, since I'm seeking synthesis, not antithesis, by this line of thought)