I'm all for dealing harshly with the cartels, narco terrorists, etc. Honestly, the U.S. is pretty tame with regards to drug smuggling compared to many nations. And I'm not sure that's really a good thing.
I'm not a fan of "regime change", as far as it goes. The results are rarely, if ever, satisfactory.
Sadly, we've allowed our justice system and our prison system to become horrifically dysfunctional and corrupt.
And if you look carefully at the entirety of the situation, it's rare that you find "decriminalization" has been a real improvement.
Again, the real problem is how far culture and society have fallen as a whole.