Heroin often is 65 percent pure rather than the 6 percent 15 years ago. Thus it can be inhaled, which cleanses the drug of the stigma associated with needles. One sign of the increased purity is the increasing rate of fatal overdoses. The strength of marijuana is often 15 times what it was in 1980. George F. Will, Houston Chronicle, May 11, 1995.
Drugs are strictly a demand-side problem.
The morally corrupt would turn to synthetic drugs. Armies that fight drug traffickers become corrupted by them. Moreover, our societies are threatened by the money that U.S. drug consumers and money launderers channel to criminals in Latin America. Two South American countries already have parallel governments financed by drug money. If the U.S. wants to do some good, it should try to cut the southward flow of money.