Eli5 how decriminalization of drugs lowers rates
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A huge portion of the harms caused by using a lot of drugs are directly related to the fact they’re illegal. Having the drugs be illegal to use ends up saddling a lot of people with criminal records that limit their access to education and employment – often perpetuating the conditions that led to a person taking the drugs to start with, and it drives the sales of the drugs to criminal organizations, dragging users into dealings with people committing other crimes. It also makes it more difficult for users to seek treatment for drug use, and limits treatment options.
Decriminalizing drugs remove many of these harms, making it easier for those who want help to access it, and reducing the number of people who get formally marginalized by society due to criminal records who wind up taking drugs because their life has entered a new level of suckage.
It also takes away some of the “glamor” of drug use, presenting it as an illness, where people are sick and getting treated in a clinical setting, rather than having it be some sort of edgy and rebellious thing teenagers do.
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