I agree with your point, but many Asian countrys' pouplaces' attitudes to drugs are deeply influenced by the damage caused by British opium trade. It is more deeply rooted than a problem of education I think, unlike in the West.
Deep emotional pain is simultaneously (a) completely understandable and needs compassion, and (b) not the best tool base decisions on.
I think the real question is how can we shape the conversation to, well, be a conversation.
P.S. (At least to my experience with people from some Asian countries) the newer generation does not have that emotional connection, but they do repeat those same old (false) arguments, almost religiously.
The other thing is that unfamiliarity breeds resentment. It is, and was, a lot easier to get weed in the US than it is in a lot of Asian countries, and so most people don’t have a nice person they know who smokes weed. Whereas even if you don’t smoke in the US, it really isn’t that hard to find someone who smokes weed, and a fair amount, if not most, are just average people.