Yes, many 'approved' pharmaceutical drugs have noxious side effects. You mentioned 'hard' drugs, by which I assume you mean things like heroin, cocaine, and cannabis, all of which are illegal in the USA. You also mentioned that many medicinal compounds, which is what drugs are, come from plants, such as opium, coca, and cannabis. Those three drugs have been fundamentally important medicinals since deep into prehistory, and society arose partially as a result of them being available and beneficial to humanity.

Until a year or so ago, when evidence of agriculture was found dating back ~23kya, cannabis was the oldest evidence of agriculture known, a cache of seeds dating back to ~12kya found in China. I submit that these demonstrable facts about the prehistoric use of these 'hard' drugs and the subsequent rise of civilization not only while these drugs were available, but partially because these drugs were available, demonstrates that they do not destroy society. People fall into addiction for the same reasons they fall into bed-rotting, pr0n addiction, and religious zealotry. Foul influences of malevolent people that overwhelm them.

I have been on narcotic pain medications for ~30 years, and am living proof that pain medications do not destroy anything or anyone. Neither does bed-rotting, pr0n, or religious zealotry. Weak character and victimzation by evil institutions does a lot of harm to some people, but not a fraction of the harm prohibition does. Prohibition is not caused by these drugs either, because humanity has been availed of them for tens of millennia, and prohibitions against them are very recent. Tyranny causes prohibition, and it is a vile scam that robs families of their parents, parents of the children, and society of as much of their wealth as evil tyrants can pretend will be necessary to 'save the children'.

If the pharma scam does collapse, we'll thank whatever gods may be for poppies, coca, and cannabis, because without such potent medicinal drugs, society may well be impossible.