Just like gambling, alcohol, opiates, etc?

Besides the wealth of extremely addictive substances (and activities) that are legal (some regulated), there's also at least one illegal drug that you're never going to be (chemically) addicted to: LSD.

The "we're protecting you" logic behind making arbitrary drugs illegal is nonsense. It's even more weakened by the fact that at least a few of the illegal drugs with "no medical purpose" have, in fact, some medicinal use: Marijuana for anti-nauseau, combating eating disorders, and pain relief, and MDMA for PTSD.

Alcohol is illegal here until you're 21, and then there are rules like no driving after drinking. We even tried to make it illegal but it wasn't tenable. Gambling is also illegal or very regulated in my state. And opiates are a controlled substance, you can't get them without an Rx.

I think we're talking at cross-purposes. I'm talking about the ravages of drug addiction on society. It's not about protecting you, it's about protecting society from you.

By far the most ravaging drug in the world is alcohol. So just like alcohol you put rules in place around drugs.

The reason drugs cost so much is because they are illegal, not because they cost a lot to produce or distribute. So we make the drug dealers rich, or we put them in prison, and this has a corrupting effect on police, border patrol, and who knows how many other organizations.

Plus we spend a ton of money, lives, and energy fighting something in a obviously losing fight. Isn't it better to educate, and help people with addictions? Or do you support the prison industry ;-)

|By far the most ravaging drug in the world is alcohol

Ever considered that this has something to do with it being the most accessible and normalised?

If you could pick up crack at your corner store, if it was advertised everywhere, if crack brands sponsored large sporting events and people commonly went for a puff after work, do you really think it won't be the most ravaging drug in the world, and exponentially worse than alcohol?

Portugal legalized all drugs years ago, and addiction rates have gone down.

>Alcohol is illegal here until you're 21

Did anyone ask for drugs to be legal for kids? or to not be regulated at all?

> We even tried to make it illegal but it wasn't tenable.

Neither is the war on drugs, you have to be blind to not acknowledge its huge failure, both economically and socially.

Video games costs money. When you've got a habit and no job, how are you going to pay? People steal to support their habits. Little children have their childhood stolen because their parents were always gaming. People crash cars and kill people because their attention is on their little screen. That's why video games should be illegal.

You can do this with literally anything.

> You can do this with literally anything.

Yes you can. But the evidence shows that crime related to supporting a drug habit actually exists compared to a Facebook habit.

Addiction comes in many flavors. Gaming addiction don't add substances to your body that your body cannot produce and regulate by itself.

I wonder what would happen if wow subscriptions became illegal and the only way to get one more month of the stuff is to find a "guy"

That's patently absurd. You're not likely to see a gamer out there ripping and robbing to support a habit. Do people get addicted to games? Food? Sex? Whatever? Yeah sure. But by far drugs lead to more crime.

Drugs do not lead to crime. Desperation and opportunity, the need to survive, with a lack of morality, all directly lead to crime. Drugs do not make people commit crimes. Emotions, those mental states, do however. What we need, as a country, society, and human race is to recognize the importance of treatment of the mind above all else. Reduce suffering. Sure, there will always be a degree of sadness in life, we should as an intelligent species, strive to end mental and physical suffering.

I don't see a lot of clinically depressed people sticking guns in people's faces. Nor do I think lack of morality has anything to do with addiction.

Rather than treat the mind, I believe in treating the spirit.

Totally! Lets try to remove the hopelessness from peoples lives that makes them turn to drugs. We can put the whole drug fighting budget into mental health.

Replace "video games" with "gambling" and you absolutely have people out there "ripping and robbing" to support a gambling habit.

Yet, in a large amount of places, some form of gambling is indeed legal (usually heavily regulated of course, but legal nonetheless).

In several nations (or states), there's even a form of completely legal, state sponsored gambling (with often ridiculously lower odds compared to private gambling offerings).

The issue here is that the "treatment" might be worse than the "disease". The vast majority of narcotic users (and gamblers) actually are responsible in how they use the narcotic (play the game). And illegal drug (or gambling) enterprises are also associated with an uptick in crime. Such is why the original "Prohibition" (of alcohol in the US) failed in the first place.

It doesn't help that current governments often tend to treat even simple possession of certain narcotics as a fully-fledged crime. As opposed to not caring except in the case of addiction, where it is at that point a medical problem. (Even the United States' old alcohol prohibition did not outlaw possession or consumption.)

And ILLEGAL drugs lead to crime much easier than legal one since you need to socialize with (sometimes) criminals to get your stuff.

Which you wouldn't have to if they were legal

If we made videogames illegal you definitely would see people doing just that.

Alcohol costs money. When you've got a habit and no job, how are you going to pay? People steal to support their habits. Little children have their childhood stolen because their parents were addicts. People crash cars and kill people. That's why drugs are illegal.

Alcohol is more addictive than many illegal drugs. Why does the above reworking of your comment feel erroneous?

It costs more money because it is illegal (demand supply curve). Just as large a percent of people use drugs as when the drug war started. So we're not saving anyone, we're just empowering gangs and cartels with higher prices. And then to feed those higher prices, driving addicts into prostitution or crime to make enough money.

If they were legal, prices would come down. Fewer crimes would need to be committed to pay for them. Enforcement dollars could be redirected to education and treatment of addiction. And maybe the drug wars ravaging nearly every country to the South of us would go away.

I don't know how much weed prices where affected in states after legalization but here where it's still illegal, one can get 10g of dope/weed for price of single night at bar and smoke every day for a month with average tolerance.

If we are talking about other drugs, can't say anything...