Pan: "...there has to be another way of dealing with addicts."
Yeah, let them rot and display them for all the world to see. That oughta' scare a few kids straight. Don't offer a safety net which only encourages the behavior. Make folks suffer the consequences of their behavior. It's called personal responsibility and it can be equally rewarding if the right decisions are made. If they want help, there are plenty of religious and secular groups offering counseling and other help. At least there would be if Gov't had the right approach to charities rather than being hostile to what they see as competition.
I don't know if I'm for total legalization, because I know it can't be good to have crack-heads and junkies wandering around willy-nilly, but the idea that "It's for their own good" is an argument that has no limit. At the very least, if there are going to be laws, they need to be enforced. None of this libiotic "extenuating circumstances" exemption that soft judges are pushing.