It is pretty much how China has handled it. It seems like it does actually work if your goal is to fully eliminate drug issues, but it's unacceptably harsh for most countries to palate.
A quick check suggests the penalty for possession is 3 years in prison, not life. No idea if that is a maximum sentence.
From what I can find, it looks like China does a lot of what the US does, including DARE style education, and that there is still (by Chinese accounts) quite a lot of illegal drug use.
I would think that since China is very nationalist and still fairly collectivist/anti-individualist, and has a grim history of drugs being used as a tool of foreign imperialism (the opium wars), drug use is much further out of the social "Overton window". I think that's a better explanation for apparently lower drug use than harsh punishments, because other states also have those (notably the US!)
Dealers can deal with that easily, this is often how they operate now, they don't carry big bags of stuff in their pockets usually they have nothing if police will do quick search. With that approach you will mostly catch users.
If I would be getting these naive suggestions of yours in this thread from my 6 year old son, I could respect them. But adults in 2026 should definitely know better and know a bit of history to reflect on.
The laws are enforced harshly and consistently, so people follow them. As a result, you have low crime and low total incarceration.
Take auto theft. In California, we have 1 auto theft arrest per 15 stolen cars. Incarceration rate is 1 in 5 of those arrested, so 1 per 75 stolen cars.
Japan has 1 arrest for every 2 stolen cars - A much higher rate of getting caught.
Japan has about 5,000 stolen vehicles nationally per year. California has about 200,000 per year.
As a result, there are very few in prison for it, despite the 10 year sentence.
Could it be because Japan is populated mostly (98%) by people who have lived there for multiple generations under strict rules? Also, it's probably a cultural thing where crime is shamed.
Be careful comparing such statistics between countries as the defintions of what counts at every step will be different and there are always contributing factors that skew the statistics.
Prison isn't the right idea. But getting them into some sort of treatment would make sense. And that could be court mandated for repeat offenders for some crimes.
That was what was supposed to happen in Oregon when they decriminalized drugs. However, building the treatment centers, shelters, etc took forever, in part due to communities pushing back against these facilities being built in their neighborhoods, and you still need a well-staffed justice system with sufficient judges and public defenders to actually process offenders in a timely fashion or at all. Lack of public defenders, judges and jail capacity is why Portland has so much catch and release, not due to unwillingness to enforce the law.
I kind of read the suggestion as a deterrent for dealers and people engaged in drug trafficking, which could lead to less addicts... Not as "jail the junkies!"
And? Doctors are not supposed to be a pharma dispensary. Depending on motivational factors a doctor may either tell someone to suck it up, quickly fill out a standard subscription to cover up the symptoms or spends some time to diagnose and fix the root cause and then prescribe medication by taking into account but the patients immediate needs and the long-term health impacts.
