But "we" have almost no say in whether drugs will ever get legalized or not.

It's all complicated and certainly not "the voice of the people says let this be so!", but public pressure is an element in political change. The marijuana legalization in the US is a good example. Even the commentariat can occasionally impact things -- I'm thinking of the successful Google-bombing of Santorum :-)

But that's a long and complicated discussion with little payment of rent involved...