The British War On Drugs Isnít Working Either
"It is self-defeating to make criminals out of addicts," says this London Observer editorial.

From another Observer piece:
A retired British surgeon, 70, calls "for ecstasy and other recreational drugs to be legalised in a bid to stamp out violent crime fueled by the drugs trade." Dr. Connie Fozzard "believes it is time for a public debate over 'nanny state' attitudes," and says the government should be "treating people as adults and not treating adults as children in their own homes."

(An election or two of representatives who vote on issues according to common and scientific sense, instead of by sticking their fingers up to figure out which way the political wind is blowing, wouldnít hurt either.)

"Prohibition should be banned," writes Arnold Kemp in an Observer opinion piece. "In the Twenties, US Prohibition stimulated the production and consumption of booze and gave gangsterism a massive financial injection. Less malignantly it spawned the jazz age. In our own times, we have seen the massive failure of drug interdiction. It has corrupted police forces across the world and given violent gangs a route to wealth. It has spawned demented policies like Plan Colombia. Drugs, or the addict's need for them, more often than not lie behind crimes like robbery and assault."

But, really...does the war on drugs make any difference?
"In the words of a senior Customs officer, its present position is evidence of staggering, long-term defeat: 'We've been working our socks off for years, seizing more and more hard drugs; bringing more and more people to court. But we have to face the reality that all this effort has had absolutely no effect on drug availability. We've got to be honest about the fact that we've been failing for the last 25 years.'"

And hereís an interesting (yet unsupported) idea from another Observer piece:
"There are other arguments for maintaining the status quo" (continuing the war on drugs). "Some investment professionals hypothesise that there are so many 'narcodollars' pumped into the US stock market that legalisation would lead to their withdrawal and the collapse of the US and world economy.

Regardless of legal status, the drugs industry remains near the peaks of high finance. The extent to which these funds prop up world stock markets will always be unknown..."