Who is winning in the war on drugs?
On 17 June it will be 50 years since Nixon's declaration of the War on Drugs, five decades later, and this war has cost US taxpayers billions of dollars, and has caused great harm to many people and communities, not only within the United States, but around the world. During his campaign, President Biden said that, more than a war, this is a substance abuse problem, and should be addressed as a public health issue. Organised crime, which feeds on the drug trade, has undermined the governments and institutions that should fight it, and has produced perennial violence and widespread corruption. The benefits of this war are for the few, and the harms for the most vulnerable people.
Who is winning in the war on drugs?