Thread: 40 years, a trillion dollars, zero results.

U.S. war on drugs has met none of its goals

EDITOR’S NOTE: Four decades after Richard Nixon declared war on drugs, more Americans use them and drug-related violence has gotten worse. This is the first in a series of reports by The Associated Press examining the drug war.

So, after all this time, one would expect some radical changes in the way the war on drugs is being conducted, right?

This week President Barack Obama promised to “reduce drug use and the great damage it causes” with a new national policy that he said treats drug use more as a public health issue and focuses on prevention and treatment.

At last! A change in direction, or is it?

“President Obama’s newly released drug war budget is essentially the same as Bush’s, with roughly twice as much money going to the criminal justice system as to treatment and prevention

No, I guess not.

Well, securing the southern border is the answer, right? Most of the drugs come across there, after all.

In 1970, proponents said beefed-up law enforcement could effectively seal the southern U.S. border and stop drugs from coming in. Since then, the U.S. used patrols, checkpoints, sniffer dogs, cameras, motion detectors, heat sensors, drone aircraft — and even put up more than 1,000 miles of steel beam, concrete walls and heavy mesh stretching from California to Texas.

Oh. They already did that, 40 years ago. Does that mean Mexico is not a key player?

A full 10 percent of Mexico’s economy is built on drug proceeds

10% of their economy!!?? Holy crap!

Does the administration understand the the war on drugs is a failure?

Even U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske concedes the strategy hasn’t worked.

“In the grand scheme, it has not been successful,” Kerlikowske told The Associated Press. “Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified.”

Yes, they do. So, changes are in order, right?

Nevertheless, his administration has increased spending on interdiction and law enforcement to record levels both in dollars and in percentage terms; this year, they account for $10 billion of his $15.5 billion drug-control budget.

No, I guess not.

If it is a failure, then keep it going, increase funding, but don't make any major changes. That seems to be the current strategy, unchanged since 1970.

Originally Posted by JD3

I was just speaking to someone on this. If we use the Powell doctrine for war, this is an abject failure. We do need to reconsider our approach.

Most of our recent so called wars fail the Powell doctrine. This one appears to have done little but wast a lot of money, yet the administration is committed to keeping it going.

The war on drugs is more like an aircraft carrier bent on going one direction, when it needs to turn around and go the other. It could eventually be turned around, but if the captain does so, he will be keelhauled. That's how difficult changing drug policy seems to be.

Legalizing marijuana is a step in the right direction.