Cartel lays siege to Mexican city after recapture of the son of 'El Chapo'

[eggplant]

24. You ignore the large number of people who use drugs yet lead long, productive lives.

The same argument can be made for alcohol. LOTS of people drink, without ruining their lives or dying early. It can be argued that some alcohol has health benefits. The one time we tried making that illegal, we rapidly got to where we are now with illegal drugs. Massive crime and death, and tainted products that did more harm than the alcohol itself. Legalization and control is a simple form of harm reduction. It's not perfect, but in a free society, it's what works.

The medical community is finally waking up and figuring out that controlled doses of what have been illegal drugs can have significant benefits in the treatment of a variety of mental health disorders. Cancer patients have benefited from the anti-nausea and appetite stimulation that cannabis offers, with substantially fewer side effects than "legal" drugs.

Has the legalization of recreational or medical cannabis in, what, 22 states now, led to ruined lives and piles of corpses?

Finally, you have to ask yourself: Is it the drugs that led to ruined lives, or were the drugs a form of self-medication for people living terrible lives with no other recourse? Certainly there are some individuals who shouldn't take them, just as there are some individuals who are predisposed to alcoholism. That's a trait of the individual, not the drug itself.