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Not exactly. If your doctor treated you while on crack, you probably have grounds for a malpractice lawsuit. Overall, I'd expect drug use to increase, once drugs are both legal and cheaper.

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If your doctor treated you while drunk you'd also have grounds for a malpractice suit.

Making more drugs legal doesn't change the dynamics of irresponsibility.

good point, but still drug use would likely go up

Is it drug use per se we care about, or the negative consequences of drug use? What if more people used drugs but there were fewer drug-related crimes and accidents?

What if more people used drugs and the related crime and accidents went up?

It is probable that there would be more drug use if drugs were legalized. (This is acknowledged in the article.) However, its not clear at all if related crime and accidents would go up. Looking to the example of alcohol prohibition, crime went sharply down when it was re-legalized. Many people die as a result of alcohol use while driving every year, so it seems possible that accidents from driving on drugs would increase with legalization. (This could be mitigated to some degree by harsh penalties for driving under the influence.) In general, I am puzzled as to why alcohol should be treated differently than other drugs.

So, that is a pretty big statement. Why do you expect this? You think there are people who are not using drugs because it is illegal? Or because they can't afford it?

People who don't use, don't use because they know it's unhealthy. Legalization is not going to change that.

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