enforcement diminishes the funds available for drug education, preventive social programs and treatment.
Caught in the crossfire.
Today's drug prohibition has spawned a culture of drive-by shootings and other gun-related crimes. Most of the drug-related violence today is not committed by people who are high on drugs. The killings, are based on rivalries
A Nation of Jailers.
The "lock 'em up" mentality of the war on drugs has burdened our criminal justice system to the breaking point. In 1990, the states alone paid $12 billion, or $16,000 per prisoner. While drug imprisonments are a leading cause of rising local tax burdens, they have neither stopped the sale and use of drugs nor enhanced public safety.

Prohibition Is A Destructive Force In Inner City Communities
Inner city communities suffer most from both the problem of drug abuse and the consequences of drug prohibition. Although the rates of drug use among white and non-white Americans are similar, African Americans and other racial minorities are arrested and imprisoned at higher rates.

Drugs Are Here to Stay -- Let's Reduce Their Harm
The universality of drug use throughout human history has led some experts to conclude that the desire to alter consciousness, for whatever reasons, is a basic human drive. People in almost all cultures, in every era, have used psychoactive drugs. A "drug free America" is not a realistic goal, and by criminally banning psychoactive drugs the government has ceded all control of potentially dangerous substances to criminals.Continue... Ending Prohibition