Personally, I think the biggest harms that I've seen with my own eyes come from the "War on Drugs" and the laws that punish users. Law enforcement choosing the easy targets plays a big role in this, which is probably a symptom of quotas more than anything else. Filling the courts with minor drug offenders, often poor addicts or casual users who are then left with a criminal record, making life even more difficult for them in the future. Way to marginalize an already marginalized part of society.
For a user who is physically addicted to a substance, such as heroin (I pulled that one out of thin air) we should be the last place the law should look when trying to combat crime. Arresting us does what exactly in the grand scheme of things? You think nobody else will want heroin because they heard that a friend was caught with a gram or two? Generally speaking, users don't have friends in high places or a powerful union that can defeat even the most obvious of heinous crimes (like police, celebrities, politicians etc.), or money to help us through the court system, we're left with court appointed lawyers, which often get their money from the government. So do the police. Do you see a conflict of interest there? I do.
I believe that locking people up, or forcing them into rehab, or putting them in a position where if they use drugs they will be sent to jail is simply morally wrong, and the wrong approach to take if you actually want to fix the problem. Users shouldn't be dealt with so harshly, most of the people I know well enough who use drugs often, or are addicted to them have very good reasons for doing so. Mental health usually plays a major part. Physical or sexual abuse often plays a part. The fact is, there are many, many different reasons people end up physically dependent to drugs like heroin, and usually nobody cares why they started or why the keep doing it even though they are in trouble with the law. Nobody stops to think that maybe they are a person too. Maybe there is something you don't know about them that has made them turn to drugs to mask the pain that they feel every day. Of course, there are other people who have got themselves into the position without being physically, mentally, emotionally or in any way abused, but that doesn't mean that they are worth less than those who have, nor does it mean that they have never had a problem in their lives. It's always complicated when it comes to "why", and there's never going to be a one size fits all "fix" to the problem of addiction. Every single addict has their own history, their own problems and their own life which needs to be taken into account before the underlying issues can ever be attacked. That costs money though, so we won't be seeing that.
The fact is punishing these people is simply giving them more reason to use the drugs they are drawn to. Often they have been punished their whole lives anyway, it's nothing new to them but it's certainly, without a doubt harming them.
We really need to start looking at why people are using the drugs in the first place. It's not going to be an easy answer for everybody because everybody is different and every situation needs to have an individually tailored solution. Throwing someone who has already been through a life of hell into jail, or forcing them into rehab is not going to fix them. It's naive and against well established evidence to the contrary. We should also consider more humane treatment, maintenance and legal responses to those caught up in the court system.
Punishing addicts is never going to work.
