There's a strong argument to be made that drugs should be decriminalized due to the societal costs of keeping them illegal. As with Prohibition in the US, this only enriches the criminals and does little to decrease availability. Money is then spent on searching for illegal drugs, pursuing the distributors and users, putting them on trial, and keeping them in jail. Money that could be far better spent elsewhere. If even a fraction of the budget for drug enforcement were instead spent on educating people about the dangers of drugs, and research to provide safer alternatives, society would benefit greatly. If the profit motive were removed from drugs, what would happen to the gangs and cartels? They wouldn't all disappear, but they would certainly be greatly reduced. There's no good reason the laws regarding distribution and use of marijuana shouldn't be similar to those for tobacco and alcohol. Drugs with more severe effects or higher levels of addiction should have more controls, but there should still be some method to obtain them legally. At least if use/possession were decriminalized, users could seek help without fear of punishment.