Here is a rant, not necessarily directed at you Al, but this comment let to me posting.
So what percentage of this explosion is blamed on the individuals?
It's so easy and lazy to blame all the stupid things people do on Ronald Reagan or "the war on drugs".
I'm not sure what you and some of the other posters full stance on things are, but I've been wondering this below.
Why is it ok to fight to keep automatic guns out of people's hands but not ok to fight to keep certain drugs out of people's hands?
If the argument is that drugs only hurt the person using them but guns don't, then you need to be a little more honest with yourself.
In my opinion it should be the same stance for both topics. Either let people have what they want and do what they want or don't, but stop using a freedom argument for one and not the other.