Question of the Day: Is the "War on Drugs" Working?

Today is the 40th birthday of President Richard Nixon's declaration of a U.S. “War on Drugs.”

Since then the country has spent “$1 trillion and hundreds of thousands of lives,” to fight the war, which some say is an epic failure—according to the Associated Press.

“In the grand scheme, it has not been successful,” U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske tells the Associate Press (AP), according to Fox News.com. “Forty years later, the concern about drugs and drug problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified.” 

The Huffington Post says that a report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy says that the War on Drugs has had “devastating consequences,” and that governments should look into legalizing marijuana and other controlled substances.

Kerlikowske tells The Huffington Post that the report—written by the commission, which includes, former heads of state and a former U.N. secretary general—is “misguided.”

He says that the U.S. should take a “holistic” approach, and is overseeing President Barack Obama’s initiative to treat drug addiction as a public health issue using prevention and treatment, according to AP. 

AP reports that Obama recently requested a record $15.5 billion for the drug war this year: two thirds on law enforcement, and $5.6 billion on prevention and treatment.

The AP also says that the country’s previous drug czar, John P. Walters, called the War on Drugs effective, and says that the rate of drug use is lower than it was in the U.S. in 1979.

What do you think?

• Has the “War on Drugs” been effective? If so, how?
• Would legalizing drugs lead to a reduction in drug addiction and drug-related crime?
• Should drug addicts and drug dealers be sent to jail or rehab?
• Should the U.S. be fighting a War on Drugs? If so, how?

Tell us in the comments box below