So, what are the overall economic benefits for the USA of its draconian drug war?

So, we build lucrative industries and massive government agencies around this drug war. The end result, according to the DEA, is that drug use has ticked up and drug prices have gone down. But we still continue to throw money at this problem that isn't being solved. Why in the world would this be beneficial to the overall USA economy?<br><br>Also, we have millions of Americans who are felons and have little to no chance of getting a good paying job. How does this help our economy overall?<br><br>And what's the deal with all the mandatory sentencing laws. Why would this be beneficial?<br><br>Lastly, what percentage of Americans actually use drugs? Is there any data on that?