Would decriminalization really help in this particular case? The author isn't in jail for dealing, possession, or consumption of drugs. They're in jail for brea

Would decriminalization really help in this particular case? The author isn't in jail for dealing, possession, or consumption of drugs. They're in jail for breaking into someone's house and stealing things to buy drugs. That particular problem doesn't go away if drugs are legal. They still cost money. Maybe you can argue that legal drugs could be cheaper, but there's not really much evidence of that; legal weed is just about the same price as black market weed, often more. I have no reason to think that legal heroin or cocaine or other drugs would be so cheap as to eliminate crime related to obtaining drug money. People deep in the throes of addiction are still going to have trouble holding down jobs to feed their habit, and legal drugs are not going to be free. Making addiction itself less criminal isn't going to eliminate all the accompanying social problems. Addicts are going to have trouble working, maintaining relationships, caring for children, staying housed, or avoiding crimes related to both obtaining money for their habits or as a result of poor decisions they make while intoxicated. I'm in favor of decriminalizing all drugs, because I don't think getting high should be a crime by itself; because I don't think the government has any right to control what people do with their own bodies; because the war on drugs costs a fortune and doesn't do anything to prevent drug use; because unregulated drugs are more dangerous than legal ones; and because our prisons are overflowing with people whose only crime was possessing the drugs themselves. But if someone breaks into my house and steals my shit to feed their habit, I still want them locked up. It's a terrifying experience to be victimized, and it's not always just a property crime; there's a lot of violent crime too.