This is the Pacific Northwest on Drugs-WSJ
A new study finds that Oregon’s and Washington state’s experiments with decriminalizing drug possession caused a surge in serious violent and property crime, especially in Portland and Seattle.
The paper, a collaboration among five criminologists, is the first to demonstrate that the states’ reforms—since undone by their legislatures amid massive public backlash—increased crime relative to the rest of the country. Prior research played down the phenomenon, allowing defenders of decriminalization to pretend the issue wasn’t real.
The July paper adds to the growing evidence that America’s experiments with drug decriminalization have proved disastrous. In particular, the research highlights how decriminalization concentrated crime and disorder in Seattle and Portland, rendering parts of the two already troubled cities almost unlivable. It also counters drug liberalizers’ argument that public-safety issues around drugs stem from the substances’ criminalization—rather than from the drugs themselves.
The only good counter argument I know of is individual liberty—the right of a person to make choices for themselves. The problem, it seems to me, is that once a person is addicted to a drug, there’s no longer the possibility of a free choice.
What drugs are super addictive? Heroin, Fentanyl (and other potent synthetic opioids), methamphetamine, crack cocaine. Interesting, nicotine is up there with meth in terms of addictiveness, and would probably be equally regulated if we were starting from ground zero today.