[Strangler Lewis]

The problem with the libertarian argument in favor of legalization is that it is not truly libertarian. I have very few, if any, cases involving violent or property crime where the defendant did not have a background of substance abuse, if not necessarily in his short life than in his parents'. When the call is for locking these people up for life after their nth offense, the cry is usually for more treatment programs, etc., not leaving them to the consequences of their "choice."

I have no problem with having drugs illegal as a conceptual matter. Ideally, the decision is based on weighing the potential social harm against the impingement on the freedom to be an idiot, which seems to be the only freedom we cherish these days. It's like a speed limit. The main argument against criminalization in this area to me is that criminalization has spawned a huge criminal enterprise. However, I'm not sure that eliminating the number of people killed in drug wars would not be outweighed by the number of people who, no longer deterred by criminal sanction, kill themselves using drugs.

And, of course, there is the whole alcohol conundrum.