Eli5 how decriminalization of drugs lowers rates
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Because when you make a business whose central function is nonviolent legal, you remove the incentive to commit violence in that business.
Selling heroin is definitely kinda messed up, but it’s not a violent act. It’s a consensual agreement between two people. But if it’s illegal to sell heroin, then both of the participants are at risk just by doing it. As a result, if they are under threat, they have more reason to resort to violence to escape that threat. If shooting a guy is gonna get you out of a 10-20, and you aren’t likely to be caught for the murder, that guy is getting shot. Similarly, when the only sources of an addictive substance are illegal, this draws everyone addicted to it into these incentive structures as well.
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