In 2012, about 3.3 million net deaths, or 5.9% of all global deaths, were attributable to alcohol consumption.

http://www.who.int/substance_abuse/facts/alcohol/en/

Legalizing drugs without more thought may actually make the problem worse. If drugs were 100% fully legal no restrictions why wouldn't corporations start advertising and pushing them as much as they do alcohol today?

I'm actually for legalizing drugs but heard these arguments on an Intelligence Squared debate.

BTW: Heroin isn't legal in Portugal, it's just decriminalized. You can still go to prison for selling heroin in Portugal and using, while not a criminal offense will still get you sent in to the authorities for "dissuasion"

I don't think anyone is arguing for no restrictions on schedule one drugs. Just clearly criminalizing possession/use is not working and it's time to try a new strategy. Distribution/selling should still be illegal and controlled by the government. I'd like to see a system where heroin addicts can get a prescription/license that allows them to purchase directly in a supervised injection center. I'd also like there to be plenty of resources and information available from the same place for those looking to leave that life behind.

But I'm not an expert, and probably the people who are could come up with a better solution.

You can ban advertising of alcohol (since 1975) and tobacco (and tobacco replacements) as well as drugs. Where I live (Norway) you can't advertise any of those things and it seems that most people are quite happy with that.