The issue is not the drugs. The issue is mental illness. They just happen to be taking the drugs to try and deal with their mental illness. My wife spent 10 years as a diagnostician dealing with violent youth offenders in the Texas Juvenile Justice System. You can talk to these youth, and they are definitely brain-damaged. And, it’s not the psycho drugs. The drugs actually keep them functional, and keep them from twisting off like rabid dog.
Time to get serious and fund institutionalization of the worst cases. There is little hope for people like this.
I don't think your wife had the correct, or an adequate, view of the situation. There is no "one" thing. There are multiple pathologies in society and in the homes. Mental illness is a symptom of a comprehensive breakdown, not a cause.