[abandonliberty]

Many drugs at the population level cause more damage than harm, no matter how much we try to convince ourselves otherwise. (e.g. alcohol, marijuana)

Unfortunately, so does banning them.

There's an individualistic vs societal interest aspect to this as well. For some people marijuana is the best treatment or their illness, so do we inflict suffering on them for the greater society?

It doesn't mean that novel approaches couldn't be effective. It would be relatively easy to contaminate/poison the supply rather than stop it, but rather morally reprehensible.

Also, the current political climate benefits from a drugged populace (dumber, less motivated) with the second-class citizens (cheap labor) criminality creates.