There has been considerable thought and study devoted to whether recreational use of illegal drugs is a “victimless” crime. Recall that prostitution has also been referred to as a victimless crime but now is generally considered in the context of how many of the participants were trafficked into the trade against their will and otherwise illegally.
https://www.ottumwa.us/files/police/report_of_drugs_and_the_midwest.pdf
He gave drink driving as an example and what happened in the 60’s, etc.
This is well before my time!
You can’t really compare prostitution to drug use. Yes, I know that some prostitutes are intentionally hooked on drugs by their pimps to control them, but bye and bye, drug users take drugs of their own free will.
That said, when existing laws are actually enforced and the punishment harsh, you get less of that unlawful activity. And the opposite is true also as we are seeing happen in liberal cities who turn criminals loose with no bail and crime in the cities goes sky high. If you want to stop drugs being smuggled across the boarder, put the mules in jail for 5 years minimum and the deport them with the warning that if they ever enter the US again, it’s 5 more years.
And set the military against the cartels with orders to shoot to kill.