I disagree. I think this sentiment comes from people who are very close to the problem. Users or former users, friends and family of users. People who have seen someone who needs medical help get treated with disdain and arrested instead. People who have a loved one who bought adulterated drugs and overdosed because they didn't know what they were taking.

It is naive to think the war on drugs was ever about protecting people. If the protection of people is a goal, you don't treat the people who need the most help as criminals. Imagine if you discover your brother has a drinking problem and it's destroying his health and finances - is your first instinct to call the police and have him arrested? Most people I think would not even think about that - they would urge him to get help, somehow, through rehab, counseling, any number of things, but no one would say he needs to go to prison.

The only actual criminals involved with drugs are organized crime cartels, gangs, etc that use violence in controlling their market. If you make their product legal and obtainable, they no longer have any incentive to sell it and you eliminate a big chunk of their profits.

Legalizing drugs is about treating addiction as a medical issue instead of a criminal one and eliminating the illicit drug trade which contributes to violence and profits for organized crime.

Isn't the suggestion that if there were not police/criminals as an interface to getting high, there would be a) the ability to know whether the drug one is purchasing contains a Fentanyl OD (labeled contents from auditable sources) b) more access to resources for dealing with addiction, less dangerous circumstances, etc

What has drug prohibition done to help the problem of addiction and violence in the United States?