Drug use battle will never get into a war

So, as you can see, this is the end for crack use. Or so they say. This picture is part of an advertising campaign where in multiple pics like this one, you see people on the end of the line of drug abuse. The creative part of it is that the ad is like an image in the end of a movie. Not a big hit on originality in my opinion, but thats not the point here.

Governments of any developed country have an ongoing war on drugs, which is something to expect. Drug abuse usually lead to what the picture shows. But the question here is, when someone starts doing drugs can they imagine themselves in such a horrible situation, sleeping in the street, having to steal things or sell their own body to buy the next fix?

Awnser is no. No one can picture itself on such a situation. Seeing the other side of the coin is like a guy whos working on a kitchen restaurant imagining himself having a worldwide restaurant chain. But wait.. actually there are some people who start out in the kitchen and end up being CEOs. So its ok to think that someone who starts with a joint might end up in crack. But like I said no one thinks this way, at least in this degenerative way.

So whats the solution? Im not a psychology expert myself but Ill risk a solution. What about starting with the light drugs? I know there are programs already going on with light drugs but most of the investment goes to the heavy ones. Also it would be important to understand that drug use matches a lifestyle. It is normal for someone who usually smokes weed or ashe to hang around in places where you can do it safely. Chemichal drugs, like ecstasy, are popular among eletronic music lovers. Cocain is more hard to stereotype because everyone is doing it these days regardless the lifestyle.

What I mean is.. If you manage to explain people there are alternatives to those lifestyles that are as cool as the weed or ecstasy use lifestyle, eventually, people will start to choose another path. And now youre thinking, but how can weed or ecstasy lifestyle be a cool thing? In the moment it is, and that is the main issue.