What we call recreational drugs have been around for a very long time and were sold without prescription for a very long time. But as addictions, lowered productivity and other problems became apparent, they would fall out of use, become socially unpopular or legally controlled/banned for all but a small sub culture of abusers/addicts.
Alcohol has always produced its percentage of hard core alcoholics with all the terrible downsides of that, but the percentage was fairly constant and, while devastating to the alcoholic and his/her loved ones, not a huge detriment to society as a whole. The same was pretty much the case with those who became addicted to prescribed medications.
Then there was a resurgence of recreational drugs in the mid to late 1960's and 70's aggravated by a sociopolitical war on religion/religious values/share ethics and customs. Without the checks and balances of societal character/ethics/social taboos and such, it has escalated over the years until it is pretty much completely out of control as it is now and is a huge factor in the deterioration of American society.
The drug cartels working both sides of the border see to it that supplies are so plentiful as to be unlimited. And those drugs are a factor in a very large percentage of both violent and non violent crime in the USA now.
Those who enjoy recreational drugs of course want them to remain legal. But the fact is, until they again become so socially unacceptable that the vast majority of Americans won't use them, legality will include all the many many debilitating, disastrous, violent, too often lethal downsides.
