“Our son Ryan, 26, and the vast majority of the 42,000 who have lost lives to the toxic supply of drugs, would be alive today if their substance was legalized, regulated and controlled, like we do for alcohol users.”
At some time we have to shed the misguided Nixon era belief that drugs are a legal problem, and not a public health problem. The war on drugs has produced nothing but losers on every single front. Addicts don’t get the help they need. An underground market thrives like crazy at the cost of human lives. Tax payers pay out hundreds of billions over the years in tracking, enforcement, and incarceration, all yielding zero net gains. people are going to prison for life on a 3-strikes violation because they got caught with a dime bag of dope. The entire thing is an absolute clusterfuck and waste of money.
What’s the source for the 42000 claim?