Alabama suffers crime because of drugs, it punishes people because of drugs, it builds billion dollar prisons and signs billion dollar prison healthcare deals because its justice system is overrun by the consequences of drugs. It forces people to spend lifetimes in prison because of drugs, it uses the presence of drugs as an excuse to put addicts back inside, and if it put a fraction of the effort into rehabilitation it would save more people, more money and more families.
I doubt a “less potent form of drugs” will happen exactly as you imagine. Drug potency has skyrocketed because logistically it’s easier to smuggle smaller quantities of a high potency substance. I personally think we would see a resurgence of drugs and doses of what people were previously doing before importing them got so difficult. What would be interesting though would seeing if any new analogs could be discovered with shorter term effects especially in the world of stimulants.