If you re-read my post, you'll see that I never used the word "completely". I'm aware of the "spent leaves" they used. Also, I don't appreciate misattribution.
But you're wrong when you say that cocaine was completely removed from Coca-Cola in 1903. They continued to use min(u)scule amounts of it in their product until 1929
Some preparations for diarrhea in Europe also used morphine in the 80s. That doesn't make such opiates any less dangerous. I know just too many people that died due to being hooked on that virulent garbage. Do you know any heroin addicts?
Are you also aware that Bayer pharmaceuticals made Heroin available for use in cough elixirs as well as aspirin in the 20th century? It offered real relief for whooping coughs as well as bronchitis
I would never advocate reintroducing prohibition. It's a grave error to lump all drugs together though. Methamphetamine addicts that prostitute themselves would not cease to do so if their drugs were legal. So what to do upon a theoretical re-legalization?—how to engage in effective rehabilitation upon cases of severe addiction?
So what is your solution? Should we ban alcohol? You mentioned alcoholics that prostitute themselves. Are these women? Geez. I wouldn't want to see what an alcoholic prostitute looked like. Probably as bad as the meth-addict ones
I don't know any heroin addicts, but I have met quite a few oxycontin addicts, which is basically the same thing. Their lives are sad and terrible, despite the fact that oxycontin is a prescription medication. Would you believe that they actually buy it on the street, just like heroin? Go figure.
You mentioned what would happen if we legalized it? We'd have more addicts, obviously, but probably not many more. We could probably anticipate that the number of marijuana users would increase by 10-15%, and the number of heroin users would increase by less than 5%. Heroin is a nasty drug -- people can get access to it now, but have no desire to try it. The government has done a good job about convincing people of the dangers of heroin and methamphetamine use. They have failed to convince us of the dangers of marijuana use, because anyone with a brain knows that it has no real dangers.
It makes you hungry and it makes you laugh, and then you get tired. Big whoop. As for rehabilitating serious addicts, well I certainly wouldn't want to see government-funded rehab centers. If we got the government out of medicine then rehab centers would be more affordable and you'd probably see some rehab centers funded by churches and other non-profits for people with addictions that lack the means to pay for them. We already have privately-funded rehab centers today that help people get clean from illegal drugs.
If people go through a couple stints of rehab and it's clear that they're not redeemable, then the private centers will probably give up on them (as they should), and these sad souls will be left to their own devices. They will probably end up dead but a lot of people with severe drug addictions end up dead today, even people with the means to pay for extensive rehab.