You didn't deserve to be downvoted for this comment. The taboos may keep these things in place, but we have to ask how the taboos got their in the first place. In the case of cannabis it was largely as a result of DuPont being unable to compete with industrial hemp, and leverage a little racist fear-mongering by borrowing the Mexican term marijuana to make it appear extra dangerous. Take a look at the film Reefer Madness from the 30s to see the ridiculous propaganda that they were feeding to the public.

I think you got the original causes right on, but I don't think it's taboos that keep them in place; I think it's a jobs thing (for cops and DEA agents).

That's where the lobbying comes from, taboos are where the political capital comes from.

I suspect the police force would dislike being put in this category. But in general, I can't really agree with you. It's hard to deny that in Western culture there have been moral/religious taboos around drug use for centuries. People act strangely on drugs and that quite frankly scares the heck out of many people. Once laws are in place all sorts of unintended consequences occur around beneficiaries (ie Hippies!) but the root cause is this long running taboo around drug use. That's why this is so powerful to me.

> I suspect the police force would dislike being put in this category.

I suspect you're right, but it seems to be true. Unless this source is unreliable (let me know why if you think it is!):

http://www.republicreport.org/2012/exclusive-why-cant-you-sm...