It’s good he is a non violent drug user, but that doesn’t mean he only hurts himself. You already pointed out that the consequences of his actions hurt his family members. They are hurt by shame, but loss of his companionship, by lack of support he might have been able to give them. Further, his purchases have financed violent groups who hurt others. In that way he has hurt others even if he never lifted a hand against his fellow man.

Many drug users hurt others by stealing what they worked to own. I shall assume he isn’t one of the many who do such things, but it definitely is a major contributor to all property crimes.

And you already pointed out, he hurts the taxpayer through the burden of caring for him while in prison. His actions have hurt us through the higher cost of law enforcement. It is all expensive. You could say, well they just shouldn’t arrest him or put him in prison until he gets violent, but our officials figure his actions have already led to violence and other crimes and that the only reasonable way to stop it on his part is to imprison him.

I have nothing personally against him but he DID hurt many others through his actions.

David for better living for all