Drugs: A moral decision, a matter of choice, or a national health risk?

[The Grand Nudger]

That basically never happens, so?

So the fact that there may be a reason for people to smuggle a substance isn't interchangeable with a reason to engage in violent organized crime.

But it is relevant to mine. I don't care much about the origin, as long as it's reliable

Which regulation can achieve, while prohibition cannot.

For sure, but alcohol won't get you hooked on your second or third glass of beer (and I know a former heroin addict to speak about this, anything more than one shot to the vein is enough to get you into it), it can be consumed moderately, and that's what most people do - Cigarettes won't kill you as quickly and painfully as heroin, and they won't give you the same horrid withdrawal symptoms, it's apples and oranges

I'd like to take a death toll from H and H related this and thats, and then a similar death toll from smoking and drinking and related this and thats. If you had to place money on it, which number do you think will be bigger?

No, but there's cheaper alcohol out there, a glass of beer would satisfy the addict, or a glass of cheap whine, instead of buying a top notch bottle of wine - I don't think they'd do the same with heroin - In fact it would probably be state regulated, and heavily.

-and there are cheaper forms of every expensive drug. I could argue against heavy handed regulations all day long, but -as a compromise...if I have to take heavy handed regulation and state profiteering in order to get rid of prohibitionism and all the nastiness that flows from that - then ok. Sign me up.

From my inferior knowledge, I can say 30€ is the price for a little of cocaine or heroin, enough for maybe one strong shot, but I dunno, if you're getting top quality drugs, then probably you'll pay more, different dealers make different prices, you'll find some selling cheap weed full of chemicals and others who cultivate it in backyards and sell it straight away, at a higher price.

You have no way of knowing that you're getting "top quality" drugs. There is no certifying agency or regulations concerning grades or quality. All you know is that you paid more. That's it. That really good weed that fucked you right up "grown without chemicals" just might have been laced with Raid, or fertilized by the grower pissing in buckets.

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This would probably not be an option, but a state imposition. If the state decides that the cigarettes tax is going to be higher, that means sellers have to raise the price to keep their share, that's what happens - If cigs are already taxed so heavily, I don't want to imagine the case of heroin, any tax applied to hazardous products would be in, and heavily...

-and yet not every store either sells smokes...or sells them for the same price. Taxes are the floor, sure, but I've already signed on to that.

I'm not a fan of prohibitionism, but I've grown to accept the fact complete liberty is unachievable for the sake of security and human dignity.

Sure, but since we're not talking about "complete liberty" whatever that means to you....I don't know what insight this statement can offer. Did I say that anyone could buy and use H? That you can get cranked up at breakfast before hopping onto the pavement miller at your job? No, and hopefully, no sane person would suggest that.