Gerben42, on 2011-September-25, 09:43, said:
This seems like an example of the fallacy of composition. Legalisation certainly makes it safer for those people who would do it anyway, but it might make the problem worse if the result of legalisation is that more people do it. The second half is the argument for making things illegal. Even Amsterdam has a healthy catalogue of illegal drugs. It would be beyond absurd to legalise heroin, given that it really can hook you in a single outing. Legalising cannabis and alcohol makes much more sense. All drugs lie somewhere on this spectrum.
Tobacco is probably an example of the other side, it seems to have far more harmful effects than beneficial ones, and since its attraction is virtually purely social, making it illegal, as a social effect, would probably reduce the number of smokers by a large margin - even the partial ban on smoking in public places in teh UK seems to have haad a large beneficial effect.