I say make it all legal, and tax it proportionate to the cost of running enough rehabilitation centers nationally that any American can get treatment if they so wish (and include alcohol, tobacco and prescription drugs under that same mandate). This is really a problem that solves itself.
It is interesting that most of this is just perception. It's "cool" to go out for drinks. It's "manly" to have a beer after work. It's "sexy" to drink wine.
I think that the binary demarcation between "normal" vs "addict" is naive at best. It is all a sliding scale. People can have compulsion problems with anything, most of which can become unhealthy.
At the end of the day, if my 85 yo granny wants to do some heroin a couple times a year, then whatever. Its probably no worse than the prescription pills she takes everyday.
Seems like a pipe dream. Tax the drugs too much and you'll just create a black market and/or encourage addicts to commit crimes to obtain the drug. Tax it too little and it won't cover the costs of rehab.
Are you sure about that?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/06/25/why-t...
"In New York, a Black Market For Illegal Cigarettes Thrives" http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1040938577857473793