I'm not sure if selling and shipping drugs to end customers was ever a good job to get into. Wholesale drug shipments maybe, but selling to end customers always had way too much risk for the money you could make there.

We shouldn't assume that people go into the business because it's rational to do so. They see the short term gains, not the long term risks.

I might be wrong but I think any criminal who really cared about long term risk adjusted gains stayed away from selling a few pills here and there.