The war on drugs, how much has it cost?

The War on Drugs was declared by President Richard Nixon June 17, 1971. Today is its 40th anniversary. Perhaps after 4 decades it’s time to take inventory. How are we faring? With all the foreign military aid, and crop spraying, and incarcerations of generations of our youth leading them from simple drug use to hardened criminals unable to find legitimate work upon their return to society, have we won? Can you even imagine the total cost in blood and treasure and squandered lives?

Are we winning? My impression is just the opposite. Drug use in America is far more prevalent today than it was in 1971. Would the drug cartels be enormous criminal enterprises able to directly challenge the military and police organizations of our neighbors to the South if we had managed this problem differently? Should we stay the course? Will things turn for the better in the next 40 years? Or is it finally time to try a different approach? How would you handle the problem?

Here’s a great article by former President Jimmy Carter covering his impressions then and now.