I put the positive out comes of changing our current approach.
And high light the opposite is true if we do not.
Less over dose deaths.
More chance to save some users
Less corruption including police
Less drug related crime
Some return via taxing drugs
Less down and our drug use driven prostitution
The list could be longer, but can we afford not to look for a better way?

Maybe we should legalise murder and rape as it happens anyway. That seems to be the mentality of those wanting to legalise drugs.

Runner,
You can't see the difference between smoking a joint and raping or murdering someone.
That's a worry.
Anthony
http://www.observationpoint.com.au

To claim that the existing measures are an abject failure is going a little far. Where there is a demand, there will always be a supply, and as prohibition helped kick start organised crime, criminalising drugs creates an business model for the illicit trade. However, the level of drug use is relatively low compared to alcohol and tobacco, and the widespread decriminalisation has serious ramifications as well.

There is a good justification for evidence based harm minimisation, and this path should be explored.

Anthonyve

'Runner,
You can't see the difference between smoking a joint and raping or murdering someone.
That's a worry.'

Whats more of a worry is that you don't seem to understand that many if not most murders and many rapes are drug related. Many of these crimes are done by people who have warped their minds with drugs.

Actually, Runner, that is not correct.
Rape where the perpetrator is under the influence of drugs is quite rare and when it does happen it's almost always the result of alcohol, not hard drugs.
Similarly with murder.
So your assertion is fundamentally wrong.
Where a murder is drug related it usually occurs during a robbery where the perpetrator is trying to get money for drugs - a situation that would be avoided by decriminalisation.
So to the extent that you have a point, it supports decriminalisation.
Moreover, where drug use has been decriminalised, drug associated crime rates actually fall.
Anthony
http://www.observationpoint.com.au