You made a much stronger claim in your original post: >"Drug use isn't associated with crime and filth until we make it so via harsh city policies." Now you'r

You made a much stronger claim in your original post: >"Drug use isn't associated with crime and filth until we make it so via harsh city policies." Now you're saying that legalizing and regulating does not lead to a 'crime spike', which is a very different position. Researchers seem to believe that it is virtually impossible to lead a functional (non-criminal) life when addicted to certain substances (like certain opiates, methamphetamines, and crack cocaine). From my personal experiences, this seems to be true; are you arguing that people addicted to these substances will lead healthy lives if the drugs are legalized? For the record, I am in favor of fully legalizing everything, but I don't believe it'll somehow reduce or solve the crime issues.