> I think the US should be punishing consumers much, much, much more.

It's scary to think what you could possibly mean by this. The US is already one of the most ruthless Western countries as far as drug use goes. Owning half a kilo of weed in Texas can now get you life in prison, so how much further are you willing to go? Automatic life in prison? Life in solitary confinement? Maybe bring public lashings over from the east? Death penalty or forced hard labor? What else could the US come up with?

The shocking thing is that after decades after decades of this, the Americans just want to keep going. Doesn't matter that drug use continues in spite of harsher punishments, demonstrably showing that more punishment does next to nothing in terms of solving the problem. But at least some internet commenters get really happy imagining people suffering, while the actual producers and distributors run free. "Have fun thinking about those crimes other people committed that they won't ever face any reprecussions for."

I was under the impression ferrying migrants over the border and avocados were almost as big revenue streams as the drugs. Et tu, avocado toast and gardener?

those that sniff aren't thinking about anybody except themselves, not one little bit

Very sad but true post. When you think about it many of the ones who are downvoting this post are the children and grandchildren of old dopeheads who created the market that the cartels eventually began to fill. None of this happened without the consent of ordinary Americans who chose to consume the illegal drugs. All of these people share responsibility for the deaths of those who lost their lives due to addiction, whether theirs or someone else's. The tens of thousands of people who have died in Mexico and Central America while trying to stay out of the way of these cartels and their violence all died because Americans created and still sustain a market for illegal drugs.

Those with the most blame are the ones highest placed in our system who knew about and facilitated the smuggling, paying Americans along the way to assist, so that drugs could be located by anyone interested no matter where in this country they lived. They helped create the system that would lead to incarceration of people at the bottom of the ladder while those at the top who financed it all and benefited the most from it escape accountability. They created a network of small-town airports, private airstrips, and safe houses where distribution could be managed in a way that shielded the money people from the operations.

If you are a drug user, even a casual experimenter in your own home, your drug use continues to cause death and misery to uncounted other people and that makes you partly responsible for the societal destruction that drugs have wrought.

This is true, though.

But please do not say this out loud, you might hurt the feelings of a passing junkie.