>I had a friend from high school who was addicted to heroin. When he ran out of money he was willing to mug old ladies to come up with the cash for more. If her

>I had a friend from high school who was addicted to heroin. When he ran out of money he was willing to mug old ladies to come up with the cash for more. If heroin were instead legal... why wouldn't he just steal directly from the legal distribution source now that the threat of violence is no longer there? That seems like more of a net positive IMO. Theft of institutions must be less deadly/detrimental than the alternative. Even if people were to steal more from (say) Walmart than rob grandmas, it'd still be positive. >And a net increase in usage will cause some % increase in DWI rates, overdose rates, health care impact, etc. This might not be the case because of increase purity/social and institutional support because of destigmatization/re-invested profits taken from taxing the product.