I've been in a place where ALL medical treatment was free. 100% free. And it was a very good idea, and produced very good results in terms of general health in that society.

In Canada a good deal of it is free, but some of it is very expensive. Accordingly, a good many people do without the treatment they desperately need, and get sick and die prematurely. Too bad. That does not have to happen, but it happens.

As for drugs, I was keenly aware of the down side of those from the earliest age, and I didn't even need public education to alert me to that. Nope. I had the best thing of all to alert me to it...a family that did not abuse substances (not cigarettes, not alcohol, and not other drugs). Kids do tend to follow the example that's put in front of them at an early age (unless it is preached at them aggressively and shoved down their throats!).

Am I surprised that most of the young people I knew abused drugs when their parents were drinking and smoking in front of them all their lives? Naw..... One drug is pretty much like another. To go from a cigarette to a marijuana joint is like going from a blue shirt to a green shirt. Barely any difference, really, except one is arbitrarily illegal and the other isn't. You can get high on tobacco too, although it's a different kind of high. You also get high on coffee and alcohol, 2 more harmful drugs, both legal.

Hypocrisy is rampant, and it goes hand in hand with conventionality. The conventional mind says, "It's okay for me to abuse THIS drug because it's legal." The rebellious kid says, "Show me something ILLEGAL so I can prove to my peeers that I'm a real rebel."

Silliness all the way around. Silly parents. Silly kids.