Does Decriminalization Work?

Greenwald praises Maria Szalavitz's new article:

Few political orthodoxies have more of a destructive impact than our approach to drug policy.  Our harsh criminalization framework results in the imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of American citizens, breaks up families, burns tens of billions of dollars every year, erodes civil liberties, turns our police forces into para-military units, and spawns massive levels of violence and criminality -- all while exacerbating the very harms it seeks to address.  If a measured, rational debate over America's extremist drug policies can take place in Time Magazine, then it can take place anywhere.