Alas, applying special taxes to sins puts government squarely in the sin business.
Thought that might get your attention, Brother A. I just honestly believe that the social pathologies would be far less under a decriminalization regime than what we have under the status quo: high rates of drug-related crimes against life and property; street gangs; political and law-enforcement corruption; grotesquely unequal sentencing regimes, state-to-state; the destabilization of foreign nations; revenues to international terrorism, etc., etc. People are responsible for their own life choices, and most people can handle the challenge. People will object: Oh, but what about the chillun'???? Hey, it's the parents' responsibility to raise their children in decency, not the feds'.
Who knows? tax receipts from a regulated trade would probably go a long ways toward balancing the federal budget. Maybe folks' income tax rates could be reduced -- even better, maybe the FIT could be abolished altogether, and we could get a nice, low NST instead.... Plus you know the rule: Whenever you tax something, you get less of it. And I don't think decriminalization by itself would boost demand. Finally, if people sin, they have to answer to an Authority far higher than the federal government, it seems to me.