Statistics and data show that drug decriminalization and harm reduction have had adverse results and led to more dire consequences, says a California-based author and journalist who once advocated for both. Between 1996 and 2000, Michael Shellenberger supported harm reduction policies and fought for the treatment of drug addiction as a public health problem rather than a criminal justice issue, and for housing to be given to the homeless regardless of their personal struggles with drugs. But with the liberalization of drug laws, everything he thought was right about this approach in dealing with drug addiction turned out to be wrong, Shellenberger told The Epoch Times, noting that statistics have proved otherwise over the years. “The most important example is that 93,000 people in the United States died last year from illicit drugs, making drugs, poisoning, and overdose the number one cause of accidental death in the United States,” says …