Had It in Holland Park

Reasons for the drug war:
1) "there is a huge profit to be made in a black market" Sensible drugs policies would reduce that profit
2) "Under prohibition, drug use becomes more hardcore" which means better profit margins
3) "The drug war doesn't reduce drug use" so it gives employment in criminal justice without damaging the profits

"What would happen if we started to build our drugs policy around the facts, rather than our desire for a fuzzy feeling inside?" The media would never allow this: basing things on fact makes the story too hard to cover.

"like all faiths, it can only be maintained by cultivating a deliberate blindness to the evidence." True - and this has not stopped people adhering to the lies of Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Judaism, so what is your point?