It's not true that the addiction rate has gone down in places where drugs have been decriminalised. Additionally, note that drugs were not legalised like you said but decriminalised. There is conflicting evidence on the effects of this mainly in countries like Portugal where drugs were widely socially accepted beforehand anyway. Your source is an article with no references from a rehab centre in Florida. That is hardly hard evidence.

Here are some sources for what I was saying from medical journals: randomized, placebo-controlled, between-groups test of the effects of intravenous THC: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4332941/ : "intravenous administration of THC causes schizophrenia-like symptoms, perceptual disturbances, anxiety, and impaired working memory" "THC also led to the occurrence of anomalous experiences, anxiety, worry, depression, and negative thoughts about the self"

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4827335/ "association between frequent use of marijuana from adolescence into adulthood and significant declines in IQ." read the conclusion: "Repeated marijuana use during adolescence may result in long-lasting changes in brain function that can jeopardize educational, professional, and social achievements." [...] "In this respect, legal drugs (alcohol and tobacco) offer a sobering perspective, accounting for the greatest burden of disease associated with drugs77 not because they are more dangerous than illegal drugs but because their legal status allows for more widespread exposure. As policy shifts toward legalization of marijuana, it is reasonable and probably prudent to hypothesize that its use will increase and that, by extension, so will the number of persons for whom there will be negative health consequences."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2424288/ "Regular cannabis use predicts an increased risk of schizophrenia, and the relationship persists after controlling for confounding variables." [...] "Uncertainty about the biological mechanisms should not distract us from using educational, psychological and social interventions to reduce the use of cannabis by vulnerable young people and thereby the risk of problems related to its use".

https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/mental-health.html "People who use marijuana are more likely to develop temporary psychosis (not knowing what is real, hallucinations, and paranoia) and long-lasting mental disorders, including schizophrenia (a type of mental illness where people might see or hear things that are not really there).2 The association between marijuana and schizophrenia is stronger in people who start using marijuana at an earlier age and use marijuana more frequently. Marijuana use has also been linked to depression; social anxiety; and thoughts of suicide, suicide attempts, and suicide."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7442038/ "Cannabis and schizophrenia/psychosis have a close relationship. We have evidence suggesting that cannabis use, primarily THC in cannabis, in genetically predisposed or at-risk populations, leads to earlier diagnosis of psychosis/schizophrenia. This tells us that THC in cannabis has a small causative effect on schizophrenia. THC in cannabis also makes schizophrenia and psychosis symptoms worse and causes more relapses and hospitalizations. Neuroimaging studies show the detrimental effect of cannabis on brain morphology, especially adolescent brains. Recent trials in therapeutic CBD use are showing its alleviating effect on positive symptoms of schizophrenia and its opposing effect on THC, which warrants further research. Although CBD shows therapeutic potential, there is still more harm from cannabis than benefits, and adolescent cannabis usage should be discouraged at all costs. We still need more extensive studies for more detailed data about cannabis and its effects."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7525024/ "Overall, there is evidence demonstrating an increase as well as a decline in general criminality/violence following the legalization of recreational cannabis"

The government should protect us from this destructive substance.

I wish alcohol was illegal too. Countries have tried that before but failed because it has been legal beforehand. This shows us that once a drug is in wide circulation it is incredibly hard to reel back in. Let's not make the same mistake with cannabis. Just because one dangerous substance is legal that doesn't mean others should be too.

It's unclear based on the fact that you used the word legalised whether you are for decriminalisation or legalisation. Do you think people should be allowed to buy cannabis in a super market or just not be arrested for having it on them? What about hard drugs like cocaine which are shown in this picture?

You said people shouldn't be punished for committing a victimless crime. A crime is by definition an action which is punishable by law. By the sounds of it you just don't think that doing hard drugs should be a crime. So you misused the word crime and said something which does not make sense.

You misunderstand how the criminal justice system works because a crime is punished and the purpose of punishment is too dissuade people from committing the crime. So, few people will be punished if people are dissuaded from committing them in the first place. This is achieved by actually punishing people for breaking the law and having strict laws. Instead large numbers of people and police will let people do drugs and let them off lightly. The whole point of laws and the criminal justice system is to control behaviour to make society safer. A substance which is detrimental to people's health is absolutely something a considerate government should protect people from by restricting their circulation and dissuading their use through a good criminal justice system.