It's all bout the prison industrial complex. Increase the criminilization of recreational activities and you increase the prison population. This creates more jobs, along with more cheap labor (prisoners). You'll be surprised to see the names of which corporation and institutions that invest in private prisons. In my own backyard, the University of Washington gets their desks and chairs made from prisoner labor where their wage is as low as $0.30/hr. Most of the prisoners in our country's facilities is for non-violent offenses.

It's just an intricate continuation of slavery.