I think a look beyond the supporters used to Alinsky Ron Paul would reveal that it is in fact a minor concern among most of his supporters, whereas Liberty is a major concern.
Keep in mind it is not the Liberty to do drugs and lay around wasted that the supporters I have talked with are concerned about--that will be self correcting for those who do the hard stuff in relatively short order.
It is instead the loss of Rights in practice, to be secure in one's papers, posessions, and person, the right to be free of unreasonable search and siezure, the right to travel unmolested by agents of the government in the absence of committing a crime, etc. which are primary concerns, losses which the government has used the 'war on drugs' as an excuse for usurpation.
Similarly, the violence during prohibition was used to justify the landmark infringement on the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (the NFA of '34--even after the repeal), and subsequent infringements have been rationalized because of violence which is commonly related to the prohibition on drugs.
These same drugs, such as were in existence , were known and used without prescription nor penalty, save that which stemmed from their abuse, prior to prohibition. Again, the problem was self-limiting, and additionally, there was nothing for youth to rebel against in their use exccept on a case-by-case basis with their parents instead of 'establishment society' as a whole.
I think if you look beyond the street freaks who get the column inches and airtime, you will find there is a significant and overwhelming number of people who support Ron Paul for his economic ideas, especially the proposal to do away with oppressive and redundant departments in the Federal Government, and reduce the Federal Budget significantly.
Such austerity measures go hand in hand with the Federal mandates in the Constitution: the power to regulate what any willing adult puts in their body, be it of animal, vegetable, mineral, or chemical origins, is not one of the enumerated powers of the Federal Government. The power to establish and mandate 'education' standards (down to minutiae of curriculae), the power to regulate firearms purchases, the power to eavesdrop on American Citizens without a warrant, the power to grope passengers at the airport, and tell you you can't fill in the mudhole in your back yard, are all not present in the Constitution, whereas the mandate to secure our borders is.
These people can readily tell you which item on the list is NOT being done, and it is the only one which is a designated task of the Federal Governmaent.
What is being sold as wild-eyed "libertarianism" is so often just an advocation of return to the Constitution's original intent.
Now, that's going to gore some oxen, frankly because it will eliminate a lot of Government Jobs, and neither the Republicans nor the Democrats in the Public Employees' Locals are going to like that, nor the people who milk student loan programs, government housing guarantees, Social Security (I know we paid for it, but it isn't in the Constitution), Medicare, Welfare, etc., because there is no Constitutional authority for the Federal Government to administer these programs, and especially not at the public expense.
Oddly, the last poll I saw in this state had Ron Paul at 39%, well ahead of Romney, Newt, or Santorum. I really can't attest to its accuracy, one way or the other, but that was a bit of an eye opener.
I can guarantee the people in my area are generally hard working (oil patch), and are subject to random drug tests as a condition of employment, and many are veterans who came here to work in the patch.
Sorry to bust the popular bubble, but this just doesn't fit the "wackadoodle" profile which is so often presented as the 'typical' Ron Paul supporter.
Many of these voters are in their 20s, (many are over 50, too)and most of them thank God daily that they are in a place where there is a job to be had, and often they came from somewhere there isn't one. Their chief concern is that when the boom slows down, what then?
Where is the America they are going to raise their children (if they aren't doing so already) going, and between inflation and boom town prices, they've seen their dollar dwindle in value, and they know it.
So often, it is fiscal policy which concerns them the most, (with some even more than lost Liberty), especially stopping and reversing the unsustainable 'progress' made under the current administration.
They often realize we can't just slow down, we can't just stop, we have to back up because the economy is crumbling--not just here, but worldwide.
So, there are, as always, the attention grabbing, colorful few who will get the majority of the media attention, and I have noticed a tendency even here to pick and choose what part of the MSM people will believe if it suits their purposes.
The druggie/troofer/stormfront/code pink "supporters" are really in the minority, otherwise, no Republican would stand a chance. They just get a disproportionate amount of airtime and exposure.
The point is that for the Paulies, this is their most important issue and it’s not for anyone who thinks that Ron Paul is a bit of a nut. He has some really good points, but he just goes off the wall on others, right down there with Cynthia McKinney.
Yet, Paulies stick right with him because he is good on “their issues”. Drug legalization is to the Paulies, what abortion is the social conservatives, and that’s just not right.