Certain drugs will land people in jail for a long time. Doesn’t look like it’s stopped anyone from possessing or using drugs (thought it’s made for a hell of a black market and very rich drug lords)…or do you think there are people out there who want to use drugs, but refrain from doing so because “it’s illegal”?[/quote]
If you think that drug laws haven’t stopped anyone from using drugs, that is a perfect illustration of your inability to understand that, just because a certain law doesn’t completely halt a problem doesn’t mean that it’s having no effect at all. This trait was also manifest in the discussion of Towns A and B, and also in your inability to see that very strict gun-control laws might work. You seem to think it’s all or nothing. If country A has strict gun-control laws and still has gun violence, those laws must not work. Not true. Perhaps that country’s violence would be far worse without those laws.
An argument could be made, of course, that the violence wouldn’t be worse, or that it would be better. I wouldn’t agree with it. But it could be made. As I’ve said, gun violence is a result of a combination of laws and culture.
So, back to your drug analogy. I think our drug laws are lame. But they do have some effect. I think there are a lot of people out there who want to use drugs but refrain from doing so because it’s illegal. I’m one of them. I can’t afford jail time, and it’s not worth the risk.
