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"Education is an effective way to prevent people from becoming users and dealers in the first place."

Fine. It certainly doesn't hurt to educate people in the hope that they will be deterred from becoming a user or dealer. I'm all for that.

Now, if a user or dealer is then caught with marijuana, I assume it will then be OK to lock them up since "effective education" was less than effective?

Or does this "effective education" go on and on and on and on, arrest after arrest after arrest .... Um, when does this "effective education" stop?

You educate to minimize the number of people who get involved with drugs in the first place. This education has to be crafted correctly (much like anti-smoking education) so that the message is widespread and compelling to various target audiences. Many of the current efforts at anti-drug education are neither frequent enough nor designed correctly for the audience. The exceptions: I think the ads encouraging parents to ask their kids hard questions are good. I think the ad that shows the deadbeat in the basement (illustrating the problems of marijuana abuse) is good. I think the ads that show kids nonchalantly passing on offers of drugs and cigarettes are good.

For people who still choose to do drugs, states decide their own laws on this issue per the Constitution.

In my state, I would advocate punishing nonviolent offenders with fines.

Obviously, you punish drug offenders who commit crimes while under the influence with prison.

Will this eliminate the problem? No - just as the current incarnation of the WOD does not. I believe this solution is the best way to minimize the scourge of drugs on individuals while simultaneously maximizing Constitutional adherence and minimizing the costs to society of this behavior.