How very nice to hear from you. And what a surprise.

I checked out your site and must say I’m impressed. I had no idea you were living in the East, but then again I’m pretty much out of touch.

As to your comment. I agree relative to cost of legal drugs, the abuse of which is more prevelant than that of illegal drugs. As you point out, the demand for which is driven largely by advertising. It is also driven by the drug manufacturers inventing new diseases and disorders to “treat” with their products.

If now illegal drugs were to become legal I don’t think usage would rise significantly. There was not a large increase in the consumption of alcohol after the repeal of the Volstead Act. And as I understand the numbers of people using heroin before enactment of the Harrison Act did not differ much from those using it after.

Despite the expenditure of trillions of dollars in the effort to stem the use of illegal drugs the percentage of the population using illegal drugs as remained fairly constant.

A market demand for a product will always be satisfied, whether the product be legal or otherwise.

Prohibited products enable a black market and the
crime associated with such. Businesspersons dealing in the black market, after all, are far less reluctant to eliminate the competition with extreme prejudice than are businesspersons operating legally.

Marijuana is easily grown and heroin is easily made from poppies that are also easily grown in most parts of the USA.

So, no I don’t think consumption would rise appreciably and I think the price would drop as folks grow their own.

I always wonder what is the difference, in terms of the governments interest, in a person whacked out on Valium or someone whacked out on pot. The only answer I can come up with is drug manufacturers’ profits. After all one can’t whip up a batch of Valium in the kitchen or grow Prozac in the back yard.

Take care and thanks for looking in and commenting.