The same thing that was gained with re-legalizing alcohol, a more civil and well functioning society that values and preserves individual liberty.
Drug prohibition and the war on drugs has had an enormously deleterious effect on our society and our criminal justice system. It has resulted in one of the highest incarceration rates of any "free" country in history, for non-violent crimes where typically the "victim" in the crime is the person being jailed themselves. It has resulted in a massive change in the criminal justice system due to so many drug cases being prosecuted, and drugs being such a prominent target of police activity. The result is massive expenditures on police, DAs, and the courts and yet a constriction in the resources being used to solve and prosecute the most serious crimes (murder, rape, etc.) or to ensure justice is carried out according to the finest principles of a free and just society.
Moreover, drug prohibition results in massive amounts of money getting funneled to hardened criminals and gangs, because when the business of procuring and transporting drugs is illegal those are the people most willing and able to undertake such activity and most desirous of "easy" money outside of the conventional labor market. That vast wealth propping up criminal enterprises then serves to corrupt the criminal justice system directly, especially the police, through direct payoffs. Just as it did when alcohol was illegal.
Even when direction corruption isn't a factor, the militarization of the police has led to a massive degradation of freedom and personal safety as well as a growing divide between the law abiding public and the police.
Meanwhile, a massive section of the population, recreational drug users, becomes outlaws. They are forced into a more tentative or even adversarial relationship with the police and the justice system in general. They are more vulnerable to other crimes and less likely to cooperate with investigations. These are not just "fringe" elements of society such as destitute meth addicts on the streets, these are people who are otherwise fine, upstanding citizens. Folks such as Carl Sagan, Bryan Cranston, Morgan Freeman, and Bill Gates. These aren't people whose lives were ruined, these are people who chose to exercise their own individual liberty to explore recreational drugs, just as people choose to use alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, etc.
Overall, the war on drugs has been incredibly corrosive for liberty, the proper functioning of the criminal justice system, social cohesion, rule of law, and safety from violence. I can think of few things developments within the last century which have been more disastrous to the stability and health of America and the developed world as a whole, I think that says a lot.
Drug prohibition and the war on drugs has had an enormously deleterious effect on our society and our criminal justice system. It has resulted in one of the highest incarceration rates of any "free" country in history, for non-violent crimes where typically the "victim" in the crime is the person being jailed themselves. It has resulted in a massive change in the criminal justice system due to so many drug cases being prosecuted, and drugs being such a prominent target of police activity. The result is massive expenditures on police, DAs, and the courts and yet a constriction in the resources being used to solve and prosecute the most serious crimes (murder, rape, etc.) or to ensure justice is carried out according to the finest principles of a free and just society.
Moreover, drug prohibition results in massive amounts of money getting funneled to hardened criminals and gangs, because when the business of procuring and transporting drugs is illegal those are the people most willing and able to undertake such activity and most desirous of "easy" money outside of the conventional labor market. That vast wealth propping up criminal enterprises then serves to corrupt the criminal justice system directly, especially the police, through direct payoffs. Just as it did when alcohol was illegal.
Even when direction corruption isn't a factor, the militarization of the police has led to a massive degradation of freedom and personal safety as well as a growing divide between the law abiding public and the police.
Meanwhile, a massive section of the population, recreational drug users, becomes outlaws. They are forced into a more tentative or even adversarial relationship with the police and the justice system in general. They are more vulnerable to other crimes and less likely to cooperate with investigations. These are not just "fringe" elements of society such as destitute meth addicts on the streets, these are people who are otherwise fine, upstanding citizens. Folks such as Carl Sagan, Bryan Cranston, Morgan Freeman, and Bill Gates. These aren't people whose lives were ruined, these are people who chose to exercise their own individual liberty to explore recreational drugs, just as people choose to use alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, etc.
Overall, the war on drugs has been incredibly corrosive for liberty, the proper functioning of the criminal justice system, social cohesion, rule of law, and safety from violence. I can think of few things developments within the last century which have been more disastrous to the stability and health of America and the developed world as a whole, I think that says a lot.