There are middle-grounds between full legalization and full prohibition. It seems obvious that prohibition has been a failure. I think instead we should base it on how harmful and addictive they are. Drugs with low harm and low addiction potential should be easy to get. Other drugs should be legally obtainable (and manufactured and distributed by legitimate means) by addicts, but hard to get for most people.
Sometimes people bring up the case of alcohol, which seems to have relatively high addiction potential and harm, yet is still legal. I think this is a case of path dependence though. I don't know if I would advocate making a similarly harmful drug legal and easily obtainable today, but the cat is out of the bag on that one.
A lot of people got (get) "incidentally" addicted, due to overprescription / easy supply.
Regulatory failure and corruption didn't help, of course.
There's also an implied suitability in the sense that "stores wouldn't be allowed to sell if it was really that harmful". This may or may not be true but it certainly impacts our cultural mindset around alcohol.
https://www.google.com/search?q=chart+marijuana+usage+in+col...
I’m sure there are solid arguments against a license structure but I haven’t imagined a better middle ground between total prohibition and 19th century style cocaine in cough syrup.
I prefer the warnings to be helpful for informing adults weighing risks in their decision. Scarier warnings like on cigarette packs are a means of forcing personal or governmental ideals on others through fear. Provide all the known facts and let people make their choice.
Even if you decriminalised meth, for example, and removed the need for property crime to get it, it could still cause a lot of bad effects for people proximate to the users.
People stay awake for days, become irrational and violent. Prolonged use can trigger psychotic episodes.
There needs to be a balance between taking into account the safety and freedom of users and the safety and freedom of wider society.
On the other hand, if you were the kind of person who had a specific interest in any of those things, I think it is very likely that your friend group would enable you to get them pretty easily. (ie you'd probably have some friends for that purpose)