I Wonder: What Has Destroyed More Lives... Marijuana, or the Law Against it?

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We all remember the propaganda we were forced to inhale in school. The endless train of "potheads" who will forever miss out on great opportunities because they were too stupid to breath. The message was clear... burn the bong and your future goes up in smoke. We know that there are people who do trade their futures for the quest for that ultimate buzz, so the propaganda isn't outright lies. We also know of highly successful people who happen to enjoy a joint or two. Then there is the other way marijauna ruins futures, and it has nothing to do with dead brain cells.. at least not directly. When someone with a promising future is arrested for possession, was it the pot that messed up that bright future, or the law against it? Sure, they might get off with a fine or community service instead of jail time... but the damage is done, isn't it. That person now has a drug conviction on their record, which automatically (and unreasonably) cuts them off from most of the opportunities enjoyed by the rest of us. Sure, the person broke the law, when the law was on the books, and new the risks. I'm not talking about absolving people of breaking the law at all. But even after generations of pot being illegal in the US, is there any evidence that the ban has helped society in the least? Or has it just destroyed more lives than the pot itself. If that's all it's done, then there is no excuse to keep the laws in place.