Another day, another set of depressing stories highlighting the futility and destructiveness of America’s drug policy.

First, we have the saga of Ashley Biden, 27-year-old daughter of Vice President Joe Biden. A “friend” attempted to sell a hidden-camera video allegedly showing Ashley snorting cocaine. But instead of coughing up the reported asking price of $2 million for the 43-minute video, theNew York Post watched 90 seconds of it andreported on its contents. That in turn led to the “news” that—a decade ago—Ashley had beenarrested for marijuana possession in New Orleans and subsequently released.

I, for one, am outraged.

Not because the 17-year-old daughter of a Senator may have smoked pot, or because the 27-year-old daughter of a vice president may have snorted cocaine. Does that really surprise anyone? I’m outraged that ouradolescent approach to drug prohibition gives bottom-feeders reason to believe that they can make millions of dollars exposing a marginally public person’s recreational habits.I’m outraged because our hypocritical stance toward drugs keeps us from evolving past the same ridiculous cycle every time a notable person gets busted: exposure, accusation, confession, penance. What never gets brought up is that some substantial percentage of the people clucking in disappointment are themselves users of illegal drugs. Is doing drugs wrong, or is it getting caught that makes you a bad person?

And I’m outraged becausethis never gets brought up in these routine public-shaming narratives:

The cartels bring in billions of dollars more than the Mexican government spends to defeat them, and they spend their wealth to bolster their ranks with an untold number of politicians, judges, prison guards and police officers — so many police officers, in fact, that entire forces in cities across Mexico have been disbanded and rebuilt from scratch.

Over the past year, the country’s top organized crime prosecutor has been arrested for receiving cartel cash, as was the director of Interpol in Mexico. The cartels even managed to slip a mole inside the United States Embassy. Those in important positions who have resisted taking cartel money are often shot to death, a powerful incentive to others who might be wavering.

That’s from today’smust-readNew York Times story about the brutal challenges facing Mexico as it wages war against its drug cartels. If you’re wondering why the cartels have so much more money than the government, it’s because they get the billions and billions of dollars Americans spend each year on the drugs that we publicly insist should remain illegal. The Mexican government has to content itself with tax revenue and foreign assistance—our guilt money.

If the video really does show Ashley Biden using cocaine, then she broke the law. She also contributed, however unwillingly, to the wrong side of a violent war raging across our southern border. So have you, if you’ve done any illegal drugs in recent years.

President Obamamay laugh, but the law is the problem. Changing it would deprive bad people around the world of massive profits—or at least bring them into the mainstream, where the usual leverage can be applied and cutting off your rivals heads is generally frowned upon. Americans have voted with their wallets: they’re never going to stop doing drugs. It’s time for us all to have the courage to accept that verdict and find a way to limit the collateral damage.

Like virtually every mainstream politician in this country, Joe Biden is “anti-drug.” It’s long past time for him—and every one of us—to rethink the equation and come down on the side of maturity, sanity, and peace.