Quote Originally Posted by joebloggs View Post
If there were no users, there would be no dealers. if there was no dealers there would be no users
Not true. Where is the dealer in the situation of people producing for their own personal use? This is how many dealers start out and from where all initial drugs use stems. Whereas if everyone decides not to take or stops taking illegal drugs in the first place, you can't deal to anyone. Demand creates supply, not the other way around. Of course, we're always going to have drugs and drug users but the question is: what is the best approach to managing the situation? I think our approach is pretty crap because in truth, we've got no real conviction with regards to drugs. This idea of users as victims just illustrates the point.

while treating moronic, self-destructive drug-users as victims.

http://www.drugscope.org.uk/resource...ple-take-drugs.
Probably some truth in all those reasons but missing a major one perhaps: a criminal justice system that doesn't take possession seriously enough. So the vicious circle just continues for many users. They use, they get caught for possession, they aren't punished harshly (or at all), they continue to use. Whereas in many cases, a long custodial sentence with no access to drugs, may have been a far better bet.