The thing that really enforced harsh laws in the drug world was crack cocaine and the cocaine trade since it involved gangs. The violence and robberies is what is really whats being targeted.
I believe that some of these laws should be eased up on. Alcohol and tabacco is obviously legal, and look at all the fatalities due to lung cancer and deaths due to DWI’s and alcohol related injuries, compared to deaths due to cocaine, marijuana, pain killers, and ecstasy.
You hear of people being robbed, assaulted, and killed over these drugs, but nobody kills the bartender for a bottle of Jack.
Another thing is, the government makes out with fining and charging drug users, so there is another issue.
There will never be an end to drug smuggling into the US.
Also, doctor shopping is very popular in this day and age. People go to their doctor, complain of some sort of pain, and voila, heres a prescreption of lortabs or whatever. If you dont get the pills you want, then you go to another doctor that will.
But who knows what would happen if a lot of these laws get uplifted.
Here’s a good link to read about prescription pain killers: