"opium, cocaine, and other drugs had been made illegal"

FYI, opium and cocaine were banned for overtly racist reasons:

https://www.thenation.com/article/how-myth-negro-cocaine-fie...

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/15/long-o...

So I am not sure those are the best examples to prove the point that banning drug research is a greater crime than banning recreational drugs.