Joe I appreciate your personal tradgedy but what you describe amongst perhaps a million recreational users is an extreme situation
No one who never drinks alchohol becomes an alchoholic
But we dont ban it and create a criminalised classe any more the Americans tried and it led to a corruption of their system and the rise of gangsterism to this very day
People with grave personality disorders may well do self harm if not noticed in time and using opiates to escape the unrecognised pain they find themselves in is exacerbated by the need to get the next fix which in turn leads to the terrible effects you describe and the breakdown of family and relationships and has a huge negative effect on our society as a whole
Its not in my opinion though possible in the slightest to legislate or punish this away
Whats happening is a sub culture that no longer owes any alligance to the folk who seek to criminalise them
And a disproportionate amount of retoric from our "leaders" that no-one really believes
There is no longer any consensus over the responcabilties and freedom of the individual in relation to the state that acts ever more as revenue collectors rather than facilitators of its Citizens
Visas for our good ladies is a prime example
Freedom is risky but the alternatives are to me unthinkable as our abilitie to choose for ourselves becomes ever more eroded
