The consumption of illegal drugs is probably one of the greatest, if not the greatest, danger facing our society today. It renders people incapable of maintaining a normal lifestyle, it encourages crime, and it shortens lives. The government is avowedly waging 'war' against these drugs, but to no avail. For every gram of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, etc., seized, 100 grams goes onto the market. The profits from dealing serves as the financial support for gangs and organized crime.
I feel that we only have two options in dealing with this problem. The first is to stop trying to wage war and actually do it. Put all available resources to work at detecting, apprehending, convicting, and punishing the dealers and manufacturers. If a person gets a ten year sentence, then it should be ten years and no time off for good behavior. Rather, additional time should be added for bad behavior. If it takes a constitutional amendment to allow this type of punishment, then so be it. Pass the amendment. Until we make the cost of drugs exceed the profit in them, we can not win and society will lose.
The other option takes diametrically the opposite course. If we refuse to wage all-out war, then we should simply legalize the drugs just as we now do with alcohol. Legal manufacture will permit economy of cost in production and drive the price down. Users will be more willing to buy from a legal supplier, with the attendant controls for purity and such, than from the illegal supplier of uncertain purity drugs. The sellers can be taxed, the resources now put into enforcing the present laws against controlled substances could be either utilized elsewhere, or simply saved, thus, theoretically allowing a reduction in taxation. (I know, politicians will find a way to spend it before they would even think about returning it or not taking it, but that is another matter). Yes, we will have a problem with users driving on the highways and such, but we have those same problems now with alcohol and they can be handled the same way as we now handle abusers of alcohol.