Until the punishment outweighs the gains then there will be gangs and criminals, they will use force to protect their criminal assets and innocent people will get caught up in the war. Everyone involved in this conflict probably started at the same point, some just could not cope with life and turned to drugs as a get out, others saw no future and became suppliers to earn easy cash whilst some kept right out of the way and run things from a far and have become mega rich. It is a problem that could be solved much easier than global warming but whatever method is used will not be popular by all. Will arming all police solve anything, not really because all you need is heavily armed hit squads that target these criminals when the need arises and not for general policing.