I have said time and again that the war on drugs has nothing to do with public health or safety. Perhaps it once was but it’s not now. As with most laws nowadays, you have to see who stands to benefit from the law.
The war is a cash cow for rehabilitation hospitals and private mental health facilities so big healthcare rakes in the dollars. The war benefits private corrections companies. Even law enforcement make extra money from overtime and special assignments.
The drug cartels themselves are perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of these laws. Cartel leadership did not become as successful as they are by not having good business acumen. I am certain they accept a relatively small amount of product loss as the cost of doing business. Keeping drugs illegal means a higher street price and they know they would loose billions should laws change.
I have no proof of this but I believe that the cartels donate to politicians hell bent on keeping drugs illegal. They may donate through shell corporations and borderline illegal money moving enterprises.
Furthermore I believe that by maintaining the drug war, we are actually undermining safety. Violent crime would probably drop as a result of drug legalization. Drug legalization and treatment would go a long way towards making America safer and more secure.
In conclusion, it’s time to admit that the drug war, much like alcohol prohibition, is a failure. We’re better off legalizing drugs. I forgot to mention one added benefit: the drugs would actually be safer because they don’t need to be produced secret. They can be manufactured using cleaner processes.