"Cancel My Board Meeting--I've Decided To Move To Skid Row And Become A Heroin Addict"

The horror stories keep pouring in, and we still won't face reality. The obvious way to end the drug-war disaster on the Mexican border (unless you haven't awakened from the self-righteous, masochistic spell put upon this nation by the Puritan perverts who first polluted its shores) is to LEGALIZE THE FUCKING DRUGS.

At the start of the last century, most currently illegal drugs were legal. Cocaine and opium-based narcotics could be purchased over-the-counter. Marijuana was bought and sold openly.
Did this result in a nation of useless drug addicts? Actually, it was one of the most creative and productive periods in American history.
As with alcohol, some citizens will always succumb to drugs. Most will not. Legality just isn't a factor.