The fairy tale spread about since drug prohibition 100 years ago is that drugs are a new phenom and current drugs are more addictive than previous versions. In reality, there are addictive personalities and non-addictive personalities. I don't have a problem with drug prohibition, as long as it is accompanied by Thailand-style death penalties for anyone caught carrying over several doses of drugs. The half-assed penalties we get here lead to a lot of violence, because it pushes up the price without making it truly unaffordable, meaning that addicts can afford it only by stealing, robbing and burgling. When a single toke of cocaine costs $1000 because dealers are planted within two years of arrest, drug addiction will plunge stateside.
Almost all of our narcotics come from south of the border. Controlling the drugs is far more complicated than pricing them as high as possible. ENFORCING the drug laws is the missing link. EASY to make a ton of laws; not so easy to enforce them. There is WAY too much money and far too many governments involved in the entire industry.
There simply IS no easy, pat answer. Never has been; never will be. People will continue to use drugs, legal or not, because they haven't the wherewithal to face life without a crutch. Not much has changed since Adam and Eve.