This chapter argues that, beyond its evident illegitimacy, prohibitionist criminal policy has inflicted incalculable harm on multiple dimensions of society, including the promotion of risky consumption, the heavy impact on national economies due to the vast sums generated by drug markets, the proliferation of violence and related criminality, and mass and selective incarceration, particularly in Latin American countries. It demonstrates that prohibitionist criminal policy remains manifestly ineffective in attempting to restrict the consumption of substances that society will always demand. The chapter also examines the utility of prohibition, rooted in its undeclared purposes and latent functions, which explain how the system continues to endure internationally despite its well-documented side effects, consistently denounced by an established anti-prohibitionist movement. In this context, it concludes that although the UN’s discourse remains centered on repression, its inertia is not insurmountable, particularly in light of the alternative local experiences implemented over the past decade.