I do think you're right that it's something that middle class people can identify with. Largely because the opioid crisis has started to impact a lot of middle class households, which has helped to humanize the problems with drug addiction.

It's also to some degree perceived as less severe because selling drugs is generally something addicts do to other addicts; it's not victimless, but it's not something that victimizes those that aren't drug addicts (beyond helping to continue the cycle of addiction, and stopping that by prosecuting drug dealers hasn't proved effective).

Forgery, on the other hand, is much harder to humanize for the middle class because it's generally a crime that victimizes the middle class. Many people are less likely to reduce the sentencing for things like that or burglary because it's a crime that might be inflicted on them, and they want their pound of flesh if it is.