The War on Drugs was started by President Nixon 40 years ago and a recent Op-Ed in the NY Times explains how it has failed.
Nicholas Kristof describes three ill-effects of the War on Drugs:
1. Increased incarceration.

The United States now incarcerates people at a rate nearly five times the world average. In part, that’s because the number of people in prison for drug offenses rose roughly from 41,000 in 1980 to 500,000 today. Until the war on drugs, our incarceration rate was roughly the same as that of other countries.
2. Increased …