A quarter-century behind bars. All because the man wouldn't agree to being guilty of drug trafficking when he used undated prescriptions to obtain painkillers for his back. This is clearly a case of the "cure" being worse than the disease. The war on drugs is futile and far more destructive than the drugs themselves. Yeah, drug addiction can be very damaging to some people. But there are quite a few recreational users, even of strongly addictive substances such as heroin, who do not develop addiction. And there are quite a few addicts who, as long as their supply is steady, are otherwise functional in society. I think we should treat substance use as a licensable activity, like driving or hunting. This licensing should be extended to drugs that are currently legal, such as tobacco and alcohol. Potential users should demonstrate knowledge of their desired substance and of the deleterious effects it is known to have. If a user violates any of the terms of their license, it is punished in the same way as driving infractions, ultimately resulting in fines, revocation of the license and/or imprisonment, depending on the severity or frequency of the infraction.