Whatever challenges await him, President-elect Barack Obama will not have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to keeping a lid on the use of illegal drugs. Our policy has been a success -- although that success is one of Washington's best kept secrets.Reported drug use among eighth, 10th and 12th graders has declined for six straight years. Teen use of cocaine, marijuana and inhalants is down significantly, while consumption of methamphetamine and hallucinogens like LSD and Ecstasy has all but collapsed.
The number of workplace tests that are positive for cocaine is down sharply, to the lowest levels on record. Even the sudden spike of meth use -- remember the headlines from just a few years ago? -- has yielded to a combination of state and federal regulations controlling meth ingredients. And abroad, crackdowns in Colombia and Mexico have caused the price of cocaine to roughly double in the past two years.
I guess the four hundred people in Chicago gunned down this year, many as a result of the illegal drug trade, might have a slight disagreement with this clown's assertion.
Or maybe the 1400 plus murders in Juarez Mexico who've been gunned down because the drug prohibition has made the money all the more worth killing for.
The War in Iraq has been a rousing success when compared to our "War on Drugs" and "War on Poverty". When will we demand a cease fire on these wars?
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