Y'know, six years ago I might have agreed with this line of thinking, though I'd already had enough experience with meth (a very little was all it took) to make me believe that legalizing it would be a disaster. Having worked for a couple years now at at a business that offers cash for just about anything, I no longer believe that all addiction is a victimless crime, or that it's only illegal drugs that create crime.
    Direct examples happen for me just about every day. One notable gentleman was trading in up to five portable CD players a week (he worked at a car wash, but none of the stolen players ever had a follow up from the police, so there was little we could do-- at least that current manager, anyway), and spent the money on beer and airplane bottles of alcohol (and cigarettes too)-- I saw this personally more than once, as the liquor store next door is where we all buy snacks. He stood out more than the others (a real grade A asshole), but there have been others. With the booze right next door, closing the loop is a lot easier than it might be otherwise. And this is on top of a notable minority of customers who are likely buying illegal drugs as well, with items that may or may not belong to them.
    So what would be legalized, if I had my druthers? Marijuana, clearly; the fact it's still illegal is a testament to the stubbornness, idiocy even, of some of the political class*. Heroin? Probably. The problems with withdrawal are what inspires the crime, not the actual drug, and the volume of casual users would indicate that it's far more controllable than the earlier propaganda/exploitation flicks showed. LSD? A tough call, but I'd be in favor of legalization if theme parks, or at least safe areas, were part of the package. Violence isn't really part of the high, in my experience, but that doesn't mean I'd like to see someone behind the wheel of a car either, especially in the first four hours of the trip. Cocaine and crack? Right out. Anger, paranoia, loss of self control; this isn't just propaganda, but something I've seen and lived. Ecstasy and other designer drugs? I guess so, but it would be interesting to think about what would happen if E went from a party drug to a casual use drug.
    If there's a theme to my picks, I'd guess I'd go with "control": is the addiction easier or harder to control than alcohol? If yes, then get it off the books; if no, then keep it illegal. Will this happen? Probably not :)

    *My pet theory- feel free to disagree- is that legalizing pot would be the fastest way to get other, harder drugs under control and reduce their usage. Once kids smoke dope and realize it isn't that bad, it undermines a lot of the warnings about drugs like heroin and meth-- drugs the dealers want to encourage, because the profits and transportation are so much better. Taking pot out of the picture would also allow law enforcement to focus on the more serious drugs as well, without having to bust (in theory) every teenager who owns a bong.

Ex ignorantia ad sapientiam; e luce ad tenebras

    Direct examples happen for me just about every day. One notable gentleman was trading in up to five portable CD players a week (he worked at a car wash, but none of the stolen players ever had a follow up from the police, so there was little we could do-- at least that current manager, anyway), and spent the money on beer and airplane bottles of alcohol (and cigarettes too)-- I saw this personally more than once, as the liquor store next door is where we all buy snacks. He stood out more than the others (a real grade A asshole), but there have been others. With the booze right next door, closing the loop is a lot easier than it might be otherwise. And this is on top of a notable minority of customers who are likely buying illegal drugs as well, with items that may or may not belong to them.

So I'm taking it he never accepts the offer for Bookman's trade credit? Maybe he got burned by a vendor in the past and so he has a problem with company scrip.

    Well, the guy always claimed to have a lot of credit, but we never saw him come close to using it . . which was interesting, because he abuse our listening/preview option all the time. (Yes, customers can listen before they buy, so long as they leave collateral.) After previewing 5-10 CDs a week, he still never bought one, despite all this alleged credit he had lying around. This was how he finally got kicked out for good-- he left his ID and took three of our CDs, which we thought was a fair trade for axing his ass for good.
    The guy was just a penny pinching hustler, that's all. He repeatedly hustled the tax on dollar purchases out of the liquor store owner, for example. (Eight goddamn cents!) It's fairly easy to spot thieves like him, too, because they never complain about lowball cash offers. We had one woman, fencing stolen CD audiobooks for her guy friends, who would accept two bucks in cash for fifty dollar Robert Jordan CD books-- and not even blink. When you didn't actually pay for something, every dollar you get is pure profit, right?
    I should stress that most of the business is giving credit to snowbirds and locals who want to turn in their Nora Roberts, James Patterson or Louis Lamour paperbacks and get some more. It sounds as if you live in a much sketchier neck of the woods, and I'd never dare say this is some kind of slum. But that's why this kind of crap stands out so much. Should be clear I love the job, since I talk about it so much, but these kinds of incidents are easily the biggest blemish on otherwise fine work. The worst are sketchy looking adults trading in kids books for cash. No matter how often it happens, the next time just feels worse than the time before.

Ex ignorantia ad sapientiam; e luce ad tenebras

Since you deal so much in cash for random items, do you have the requirements of a pawn shop (eg taking down photo ID info in exchange for buying the stuff)? I understand your store cannot do anything about it since the cops wont get involved, but I am just wondering what your bosses do to protect themselves (if anything).
It seems like a liability.

    I believe under the law we are pretty much considered a pawn shop, so there are some requirements. Anything with a serial number (console, television, camera, etc) gets the paperwork, as does any CD or DVD transaction over $50. (They are all held for three weeks in storage, to give time for all involved to find out where their stuff went.) Any cash trade requires a valid ID, and yes, even for a nickel-- I've done it, more than once. It's a minor hurdle, just enough to keep everyone involved with enough ass covering, but if you're willing to steal, why not use a fake ID?
    I should have been more clear on the theft issue: it's not that the cops won't get involved, but that there's usually nothing done unless the victim takes steps to track down their stolen stuff. We do see the police once in a while- too much and we'd get shut down!- mainly with things like hand held consoles, like a Nintendo DS or a PSP. Even once had a hard drive with child porn on it get taken as evidence, but the cops were really after that guy-- they came in for the drive literally hours after he traded it in, so it was clear they were tailing him. With the portable CD players, my guess is that everyone who lost one figured it was just that- lost- and never thought to find out if someone had stolen it.
    Is it a liability? Yes and no. We could be even sleazier, and not get shut down, but most of us who work for Bookmans has fairly high elan, so the day to day workers wouldn't like to see this happen. Really, quite a funky place to work, even if the pay is low. The tangible benefits are great though, especially if you're a bit of a pack rat :)

Ex ignorantia ad sapientiam; e luce ad tenebras

it would be interesting to think about what would happen if E went from a party drug to a casual use drug.

Nothing really. The few people I've seen use it on a day-to-day basis were essentially using it in an increasingly uphill battle to boost serotonin levels and treat depression. They tended to come off as sadder, slightly more cracked out caffeine addicts.

It is easy to buy small plaster models of what you think life is like.

I am not an extremist on this issue.  I think that you have made an excellent analysis of the drug problem and I am perfectly willing to accept your proposal.  As a society we really need to think more clearly about the very serious social problem of drug abuse, and find the most practical way to deal with it, by means of a mixture of legalization of some drugs, appropriate regulation of all drugs, medical assistance for drug addicts, and continued banning of the more harmful drugs.