I disagree. I think drug use would increase -- maybe double. Which will result in a doubling of misery.
"Today’s highly addictive/designer drugs are a result of the WoD."
Oh. please. Make recreational drugs legal and the pharmaceuticals will have 20 new drugs on the market in 6 months. Who cares if a few thousand drug users die? It's not like it's an FDA approved medicine or anything. Get the government out of drugs, right?
"Huge profits from illegal drugs promote corruption."
You're right. The pharmaceuticals can be trusted with huge profits more than organized crime.
Many so-called designer drugs are a direct result of the WoD and wouldn't otherwise exist.
Rearrange a molecule, add or subtract a radical group, then voila! a 'new' drug that isn't covered by existing laws that describe a drug by a specific chemical name.
Pharmaceuticals may bribe politicians and bureaucrats, however they don't have the same effect of corrupting every layer from customs and border agents to local LEO, to state and federal agents, judges, and politicians as do the drug lords.
Reduce or eliminate the huge profits and the huge life-or-death stakes of drug distribution and you'll also reduce the subsequent corruption.