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.
“set the military against the cartels with orders to shoot to kill”
Ask around in Matamoros, Mexico to see how that is working out.