He speaks the truth. Just because Habit A and Habit B are likely to go together, it does not mean one is responsible for the other.
Seems silly to legalise all drugs. There's a reason some drugs are banned - they can cause significant, devastating problems to society, and seem to cause health problems too. While the illegal status of drugs contributes to this effect (high prices due to difficulty in procuring makes addicts blow more money than they might), it could easily go in the complete opposite direction and still cause the same effect - legalising drugs would make them easier to obtain, thus theoretically causing greater chances of OD. Not only that, it might raise the demand level until prices are just as high as they were when they weren't legal.
No, legalizing all drugs would make it easier for people that are addicted to get help because they wouldn't have to worry about going to jail.
The problem isn't how easy it is to get help, it's convincing the addicts to get help. Rehab clinics are everywhere in modern countries, as are qualified counsellors. Most addicts will have problems admitting to the addiction. You are right in saying the threat of persecution makes them even more reluctant to seek help though.
And it's not like legalizing heroin would suddenly convince everyone to start shooting up. The vast majority of people are not that stupid (and those that are that stupid are probably doing drugs in spite of the laws anyway).
It's not everyone we're worried about, it's the minority who are already doing drugs and their influence on others. In addition, adolescents will definitely be attracted to newly legalised drugs - anything that has had a illicit status is attractive (for social and rebellious reasons). It only takes one or two adolescents to start taking legalised drugs in order to cause conformity in others.
There is no real reason to argue for legalisation of all drugs. Feel free to prove me wrong - it's late at night and I'm high on jubes and punch.
