Prohibition doesn't make things safer, or use more responsible. Those who forget the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. We had (alcohol) prohibition. What happened when alcohol was made illegal is that criminals took over the production and distribution, and the end product available to consumers varied wildly in terms of safety. You just never knew what you were getting, because it was all produced by criminals whose only interest was making money, not the quality of the product.

Fast forward to today. There is a prohibition against drugs now. Does the fact that drugs are illegal make them safer? Obviously not, as the recent round of poisoned heroin clearly demonstrates. People are dying needlessly because of the current drug prohibition. You often don't know what you're buying. It could be laced, it could be poison, it could be fatal, it could be safe and pure. No matter how responsibly you WANT to use your drugs of choice, you are limited in doing so by the fact that you don't have any idea what the hell you're buying. And who's running production and distribution? Again, just as happened with alcohol prohibition, it's the criminals, especially large international criminal enterprises, whose only interest is making money, not the quality or safety of their product.

Prohibition is a terrible idea. We figured that out once, but apparently, as a collective whole, we have forgotten the lesson we once learned, and are now doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Those most against any form of drug legalization or decriminalization? The criminals, of course, who have much to lose financially. If criminals WANT drugs to be illegal in order to maximize their profits, at significant cost to our citizens' lives, should we not at least ponder whether giving the criminals what they want might NOT be the wisest course of action?