In this day and age the US have the technology (satellites) to cover the whole fucking planet, dont tell me they cant map a desert area and find all the "illegal" plantations there in a week and destroy them all from the air in a matter of days. Which leaves us with...they still exist cause they simply allow them to exist.
How could they? Heroin, crack, meth, how can you possibly regulate the sale of such drugs? The FDA would have to give their stamp of approval. They certainly couldn't endorse something so dangerous.