Conventional Wisdom: The U.S. Government's War on Drugs will make us all safer because people won't be able to get drugs; drug users will all get "clean" (while they're in jail) and we won't have to worry any longer about our children becoming the victims of drug pushers.
Reality: The war on drugs went into effect in 1964, since then, the U.S. has become more violent due to organized crime's involvement in importing and selling drugs (drug users are, statistically far less violent than users of alcohol), there are still lots of drugs available to those who want to use them (that's why there are tens of thousands of drug users in jail today) and the risk of children getting "hooked" on drugs is statistically no less than it was in 1963.
The parallels between the current War on Drugs and Prohibition are too obvious to be ignored: In 1907, when the first states (Georgia and Oklahoma) made alcohol use and sales a crime, the crime rate (homicides) started to skyrocket. By the time the 18th Amendment was passed in 1919 homicides had increased from 1 person in 100,000 (before prohibition laws) to 8 people in 100,000. By the time the government admitted its mistake and repealed the 18th Amendment, the homicide rate was up to 10 people per 100,000). The same things that happened during Prohibition are happening in the Drug War: the government is telling people: "No, you can't have it," the people are saying "we still want it," entrepreneurs (drug dealers) are coming out of the woodwork and finding ways to get people what they want and the competition between dealers is deadly and taking many civilian casualties.
Its a very old axiom but its still true: You can't legislate morality. Since the beginnings of recorded history, people have smoked, sniffed, drank, eaten and (later) injected things that make them feel "good" and, whether we like it or not, whether the government likes it or not, they always will. This war on drugs is as futile as the earlier war on alcohol proved to be (and it's as lacking in sense or substance as the current War on Terrorism will end up to be).
So here I am, advocating an end to the War on Drugs. What happens then? What should happen is: the Government should make drugs legal, regulate their manufacture (making them safer -- no more "bad" drugs that kill people), lowering their price (which is the natural effect of the free-market -- putting the pushers and cartels out of business) and then allow people to get high if they want, just like they always have and always will. Abusers who commit crimes will still go to jail (or into mandatory rehab) and these abusers will still be unproductive members of society (as they are today) but the vast majority, who know how to control themselves and their habits, won't have to worry about getting thrown in jail or losing their property.
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