End the ban on illegal drugs, writes this week’s Economist. Flatly put, “the war on drugs has been a disaster, creating failed states in the developing world even as addiction has flourished in the rich world. By any sensible measure, this 100-year struggle has been illiberal, murderous and pointless.”

This isn’t your typical liberal stoner diatribe, however — the Economist admits up front that drug use is likely to increase under a legal system. But governments should still legalize, because doing so decreases auxiliary crime and puts the emphasis on treating drug addiction as an issue of public health problem rather law enforcement. Legalization is also unequivocably better for developing countries, many of whom are falling apart at the seams because of drug-related organized crime.

What about morality? Aren’t more kids going to have their lives ruined by addiction? Not any more than they already are:

[Eliminating drugs] is the kind of promise politicians love to make. It assuages the sense of moral panic that has been the handmaiden of prohibition for a century. It is intended to reassure the parents of teenagers across the world. Yet it is a hugely irresponsible promise, because it cannot be fulfilled.