I had a debate recently with a few friends on this topic. I argued there should still be somewhat harsh penalties for certain drugs (heroine) as they are a high cost to society, especially in places where there is universal health care. Their arguement was that then why are McDonald's or Burger King etc not banned as they contribute highly towards diabetes and cause high costs in Health Care. A very valid point and one I had to ponder for a bit. However, the main difference here is that McDonald's and other fast food restaurants lobby the government and pay absurd fees to keep running. This in turn can be used to help alleviate the heavy burden of diabetes caused by consuming unhealthy meals from places like this. Where does the funding come from for heroine overdoses and other complications? Purely out of tax payer dollars. If the government's are able to receive lobbying payments from companies that would theoretically sell these drugs then perhaps they can exist, but then there is the whole arrangement of self-harm vs harm of others which I won't get into. TLDR: Should be illegal unless society/government get lobbying funding to subsidize the eventual cost on the medical system.