I agree with you. By its nature, it is not a safe industry to work in. Yet, all these supply based strategies only go so far and are expensive, libertarians are correct that operations like Plan Colombia are not cheap. However, that doesn’t mean we just abdicate responsibility, we need to create a society that is hostile to drug abuse and its excesses so that demand plummets.
Anyone can look at Pop Culture today and see that this is clearly not the case, and in fact it just feeds into the drug culture. As someone under 30, I’ve encountered my fair share of drug users, a lot of them just simply have nothing to live for. They’re bored, nihilistic, have dysfunctional upbringings and it reflects on their behavior. Simply decriminalizing drugs or DEA funding isn’t going to solve a serious and complex social problem.