For society at large, drug dealing and the drug industry.

For specific individuals, domestic violence.

Wife beaters are infinitely worse than merely unlicensed apothecaries.

Are we considering Safeway and 7/11 as drug dealers? A bunch of my friends from high school got hooked on heroin, and pretty much everyone smoked weed. A junky will try to steal your shit but they are massively paranoid and run if they think they hear a dog bark. And stoned people don’t do much of anything.

Cocaine makes people violent. At least it does for me. But that is expensive so the violence is just boys being boys.

If I had to choose between walking down a dark alley where everyone was shooting up or a frat party at 4AM. I’m picking the alley.

And I would say a good chunk of domestic violence is drink related.

The actual facts of either situation would have to be shared to make such a judgment. Beating the hell out of a family member is clearly worse that getting caught selling three joints. However, managing a continuing enterprise of selling millions of dollar worth of illegal substances yearly would certainly be worse that a simple shove against a wall in a home.

(Anybodythat gives ME a “simple shove” against the wall is going to find themselves in court for assault.)

Make the substances no longer illegal and you remove most of the danger and social ill from them.

But then you would need a major shift in our moral compass from punishment to helping. And bootstraps… Punishment is fun, wasting my taxes on helping others, not fun.

If you force me to pick one I say domestic violence is worse.

Alcohol abuse is more harmful than crack.

Drug dealers aren’t very detrimental to society, certainly no more than prostitution or politicians.

I think it’s comparing apples to oranges.

To someone directly affected by domestic violence, that is more of a serious crime to them. If someone is beaten often, had teeth knocked out, had to go to work with bruises in obvious places or avoid family gatherings because of bruises, had children affected by seeing their mother beaten or slapped around, this is horrible for their whole family.

For someone who’s child is an addict, or for the addict themselves, who can’t shake the habit, who may be affected in so many ways, drug dealing is horrible for them and their family.

Domestic violence is the more serious crime, because the victim has no opportunity to decline. I’ve said “no” to drug dealers more times than I can recollect.

Besides, I believe we’re long past the need for an armistice in the “war” on drugs, and that we should stop criminalizing them. I’ll never advocate for making domestic violence legal.

@Love_my_doggie: I think there are more political, shall we say, expectations for making drugs legal, rather than domestic violence.

No question, domestic violence. Not only does it affect the family unit in permanent ways, but psychologically there’s PTSD and other longer lasting issues.

Drug dealers die and are replaced immediately, there’s no question they cause harm (El Chapo for example), but it’s optional for the population to use or not.

El Chapo was a cartel leader, that’s pretty different than being a drug dealer.

@cheebdragon Yeah. The OP seems to reference more than Dime Bag on the corner.

@KNOWITALL Did they??

I’d say domestic violence.

There is an excellent movie, with Denzel W. in it, called “Flight.” It focuses on one mans battle with drugs and alcohol addiction.