Make a a corporation like those gangs during the banana wars. Phase out the extra-illegal stuff and in 20-30 years they can have a 'Me Too' movement.

I think I remember hearing that the Mexican cartels are even part of the production line of narcotics made from opium in OP's post. The raw products are send to Mexico and other Latin American countries for processing, then smuggled into the US.

I don't understand why the US government doesn't solve the problem. It seems to me that it would be quite simple. Legalize drug use, criminalize distribution, provide amazing free and non-judgmental drug abuse therapy that includes medically minimizing withdrawals and long-term sobriety so that benefits of completing rehab would overwhelmingly attract and keep people dependent on drugs engaged with treatment through to completion and sobriety. We'd also need to get rid of the idea that once someone is an "addict", they are an addict for life. This would help people feel that coming to therapy for drug use doesn't automatically mark them for life. It would be a bit expensive up front, but in the long run, we'd save so much money in the criminal justice system, customs, and healthcare. Not to mention, increased productivity from a healthier workforce and quality of life would increase drastically, not for the drug users, but their families and communities. There's also the bonus of creating tons of jobs in drug rehab for a while, both treatment and research. And as is well-known, research in one field often has beneficial unexpected benefits for other fields, such as when Pavlov was studying salivation in dogs created an entire branch of psychology (behaviorism), which coincidentally, happens to have major applications in drug use treatment.

This is such an easy win for politicians on both sides if they would sell it properly. Republicans would look great to their base for doing something about drug abuse that is hurting rural America, reducing immigration issues, lowering crime, and tickling their anti-Mexican racism. Democrats would look great to their base for enacting caring government programs, reducing criminalization, and being effective at something. It would also help relations with Mexico. It's a win-win-win for everyone. I can't figure the cons.