What is the Australian government doing about alcohol addiction?

What policies should the American government adopt in order to minimize drug usage?

• Drugs (for simplicity's sake let's limit drugs to addictive, hallucinogenic substances illegal for use for all people in the U.S., so think cannabis, heroine, cocaine, crack, LSD, etc. Although not the main focus of this question, solutions related to alcohol and tobacco are also welcome) clearly have a destructive effect on society. From gang violence in almost every major city, to productivity losses, to families ripped apart, to an individual loss of autonomy due to addiction, drugs severely impact society.   The way I see it, taking out drug dealers hasn't really helped, as drug usage is at a 40 year high. The way to ameliorate the problems associated with drug usage is to curb demand.   What policies should the U.S. government take to address drug usage? How can we use modern technology (internet, etc.) to convince youths not to take up drugs?   I'm extremely skeptical that legalization would actually reduce drug use in America (even though I've seen arguments that it has in certain European countries). So for the sake of argument, I'd really appreciate solutions other than legalization (although if you can make an airtight argument for legalization I'd also be happy to see that).

• Answer:

  Thanks for clarifying.  While I understand the point you are making, I would argue that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibitionism is an extremely poor way of controlling usage of an item.  This was an experiment that was tried and failed with https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States in the 1920s.  When the production, sale and transportation was made illegal, all that happened was that a huge vacuum opened up in the market.  Criminal organizations rushed to fill that void.  The demand for alcohol doesn't seem to have dropped by much.  Articles I've found in my research are showing that usage did drop but these reports are conflicting.*  In any case, alcohol consumption was by no means close to being eliminated. The fact of the matter is, there is demand for a product or service, someone is going to fill that demand no matter the legal consequences.  A lot of the crime associated with illegal drugs has to do more with drug dealers trying to acquire/defend the areas they control as opposed to users trying to get money to make purchases.**  It is rare that you see Sam Adams distributor shoot a Budweiser vendor in order to expand their market.  :)  Basically, if you try to reduce demand by criminalizing supply, then, well criminals will take over supplying.  If it is lucrative enough, violence will rise as criminals compete for turf.  You are also turning thousands if not millions of ordinary citizens into criminals, when the only thing they've done is taken a substance to alter their consciousness, even if they caused no harm to anyone else.  And that's ignoring the untold damage that criminal gangs are doing in drug producing countries in order to feed the profitable black market. I agree that curbing demand is the best way to lower usage, but prohibition is probably the worst way to do this.  What is more tantalizing than that which is forbidden?  It is even worst in that you are also punishing people who literally cannot help themselves.  If a person is addicted to a substance, it is EXTREMELY difficult for them to make a decision to stop using.  After all, the brain is physically changed by the substance.  It'd be like punishing someone with OCD every time they washed their hands. Substance use can really only be lowered through societal change and education.  It is a long process that has no guarantee for results.  People have been altering their consciousness through drugs throughout history.***  Basically, people want to get high.  It may even be a need.  Ever see a child spin around just to get dizzy?****  We can maybe lower usage in the more dangerous drugs, like crack and heroin, but I doubt we'll ever see usage eliminated.  In my opinion it is better to try to educate people on the dangers of these substances and help those that become addicted.  Throwing them in jail just makes things worst for them and society in general.  *http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1470475/ argues that consumption dropped.  This paper http://www.nber.org/papers/w3675 found that use dropped sharply at first then rose steadily after. ** http://www.nytimes.com/1995/10/08/us/study-discounts-the-role-of-drug-users-in-gun-related-crime.html  Most studies I came upon came from rather unbiased sites that were obviously promoting one position or another, so I had to go back a ways. *** http://science.howstuffworks.com/marijuana1.htm traces of cannabis was found in a 3000 year old Egyptian mummy. ****And not just people...http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-playing-field/201012/animals-psychedelics-survival-the-trippiest