"[In 2012] the annual average taxpayer cost in these states was $31,286 per inmate."
If you start treating people you need less law enforcement and you get less inmates. And then you haven't even considered the less obvious damage that drug related convictions cause, like not being able to find a job and relying on welfare. Children of convicted drug abusers growing up in a bad environment and being more vulnerable to addiction and crime.
Most arguments against decriminalization are extremely short sighted, just look at the positive effect it's having in Portugal. Drug use might not be severely affected, but the surrounding factors are slowly improving:
http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blog/drug-decriminalisation-portugal-...
"[In 2012] the annual average taxpayer cost in these states was $31,286 per inmate."
If you start treating people you need less law enforcement and you get less inmates. And then you haven't even considered the less obvious damage that drug related convictions cause, like not being able to find a job and relying on welfare. Children of convicted drug abusers growing up in a bad environment and being more vulnerable to addiction and crime.
Most arguments against decriminalization are extremely short sighted, just look at the positive effect it's having in Portugal. Drug use might not be severely affected, but the surrounding factors are slowly improving: http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blog/drug-decriminalisation-portugal-...