Legalization

U.S. War on Drugs Has Been Pointless; Even Drug Czar Admits It

The United States is 40 years into its "War on Drugs" at a price tag of $1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives lost -- meanwhile, drug use is up and drug violence has gotten worse and more widespread.

Even the U.S. drug czar, Gil Kerlikowske, admits the campaign has been a failure. "In the grand scheme, it has not been successful," he said. "Forty years later, the concern about drugs ... is, if anything, magnified, intensified."

President Obama recently announced a new national policy treating drug use as more of a public health issue than a crime issue, focusing on prevention and rehabilitation. Yet his administration is spending more than ever on drug law enforcement.