Infographic: Why we’re losing the ‘War on Drugs’

By Hal Amen On February 6, 2012 · 13 Comments

Since the 1980s, the US has been waging its ‘War on Drugs’ in earnest. Here’s how we’re doing.

The War on Drugs

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Hal Amen

Hal Amen is a managing editor for Matador. His personal travel blog is at WayWorded.

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Michelle Schusterman

This is fantastic. (The infographic. The information itself is alarming.)
Jwoolsey

The most telling stat for me here is that Big Pharma spends more money on marketing than it does on research and development… why should we trust pharmaceuticals have our best interest in mind when it appears their major interest is selling us their product?
http://abbiemood.com/ Abbie

This infographic is amazing. And agree with Michelle that the info. is alarming.
Korky Jan

In Europe advertisement of over the counter medicine is allowed.
Bobpatterson3

US is spending that much on NASA?
Anonymous

Whats missing is the US helps grow the opium then takes the opium and
brings it into the USA. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj-b3pB6M7s . The
Us banks help launder the drug money.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2010/06/report-wachovia-bank-helped-launder-mexican-drug-money/1
Then the feds set up Fast and furious as a way to demonize the second amendment. The Agents gave the guns to the cartels. http://www.infowars.com/confirmed-atf-plotted-to-use-fast-and-furious-to-demonize-second-amendment/
Graham

Great information! There’s no such thing as a bad drug, simply bad relationships to drugs… in my opinion.
http://tinyurl.com/affiliate-ressurection Janet Johnson

An absurdly thorough reader might be able to converge by systematically sorting out the excesses, misunderstandings, distortions and contradictions voiced and then connecting the dots… But it might be easier to take a glance at the bytes that have have already flowed under this bridge from day one. I’m not anti-War on Drugs…but I couldn’t eat a whole one. I feel that the human race will not survive in the form of civilization as we know it much longer.
Muirheadm

‎”We” are losing the war on drugs because the conscious intention in beginning it was for it never to be won.

It’s not a war: it’s a social engineering tool that’s been in use for
so long by so many powerful people – and has spread so widely – that
it’s become part of our whole global culture and in its own right an
important part of the world’s economy.
http://twitter.com/#!/david_frankk David Frankk

I hate to say this but, from what I can infer from this Infographic it seems like a better option to just legalize drugs

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Michelle Schusterman

That’s one option. Another is to not make drugs the #1 priority for the police, over homicides, kidnappings, rapes, and burglaries. In the 70s when Portugal experienced an increase in drug use, its government took the money they could have spent building prisons and doing “drug busts,” and instead put it into creating drug rehabilitation and awareness programs. A decade later they reported a dramatic decrease in drug use. And rather than having an enormous percentage of their population sitting in cells, they’re out working and contributing to society. The War on Drugs was ridiculous from the get-go.

http://twitter.com/#!/david_frankk David Frankk

Nicely put Michelle. Instead of fighting it all the time the govt needs to tackle this issue in a different way. Something like what the Portuguese did in their country. Also, I still wouldn’t totally rule out the first option. Its easily available anyway, might as well make it legal.

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Michelle Schusterman

I completely agree. In the 80s when this “war” was launched, the number of deaths in the US related to any and all types of illegal drugs was only a fraction of the number of deaths caused by drunk driving. Interesting to note that the War on Drugs started from the top – the Reagan administration – and addressed a problem the country wasn’t really having (crack didn’t appear in the US until two years after the “war” was launched). But the movement against drunk driving was truly grassroots, started because people saw there was a legitimate problem that needed addressing – deaths due to drunk drivers.

Also notable – it wasn’t a movement for prohibition. Just awareness and fair punishment for driving while intoxicated. Stark difference between a movement started by the people and a movement started by politicians with entirely different interests.

Infographic: Why we’re losing the ‘War on Drugs’

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