Many of those same people can benefit from marijuana. Yet, it is still illegal nationally (in the States). Studies have shown opioid abuse has gone down in states that legalized recreational marijuana use. The opioid epidemic isn't making opioids more difficult or impossible to obtain. It is the backwards thinking war on drugs that wants to punish those who self medicate. Then they keep punishing people for arbitrary reasons. Recidivism rate in this country is far too high due to the prison/jail system's goal. It isn't to improve behavior, it is to make money. Who benefits from locking up a non-violent offender? The public foots the bill. Police officers have increased paperwork/workload which takes them away from far serious crimes. The offender doesn't receive help and has to jump through arbitrary hoops and walk a very fine line (compared to non-offenders) just to avoid re-incarceration.

We don't actively work to improve people who are struggling. The jail system in the US primarily keeps people down.

The possible point should be that we just mature as a society and accept that drugs are a part of human life - and that altering brain chemistry can be very useful.

Then we might develop drugs which are safe to use and non-addictive, and provide real productivity gains.

Brave New World as an example.

If all drugs are developed or sold under a veil of criminality, that will never happen. We need to expose them to market forces, litigation, consumer testing and regulation.