the Federal Government spent $19 billion and 1.5 million people were arrested annually for drug violations. With such immense numbers, some groups suggest that government policies can be labeled a failure. Indeed, David Boaz and Timothy Lynch of the Cato Institute even go so far as to argue that Congress should abandon the Drug Enforcement Agency entirely because "all the arrests and incarcerations haven't stopped the use and abuse of drugs, or the drug trade, or the crime associated with black-market transactions. Cocaine and heroin supplies are up; the more our Customs agents interdict, the more smugglers import. And most tragic, the crime rate has soared. Despite the good news about crime in the past few years, crime rates remain at unprecedented levels."

With incarceration levels among minorities accounting for a disproportionate percentage of drug-related offenses, American drug laws are inherently racist in the eyes of groups such as the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA). The group seeks to reopen public debate about current legislation and to present alternative strategies. Recent trends published by DPA indicate that African-American women "are the fastest growing segment of the prison population" and Native American prisoners are the largest group per capita. But, according to DPA views, the high incarceration levels are indicative of a society-wide problem, resulting in almost five million people, including those on probationary service, who fall under the auspices of the justice system. Such numbers, the DPA argues, bespeaks of a system where "the focused machinery of the war on drugs fractures families, as it destroys individual lives and destabilizes whole communities. It targets Native Americans living on or near reservations and urban minority neighborhoods, depressing incomes and repelling investment."

For Cole, the problems extend beyond the prison population and includes their families, their neighbors, and society at large. A co-founder of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), he believes that "this is not a war on drugs---it's a war on people... It's a war on our children, a war on our parents, a war on ourselves." Were drugs managed differently, he contends, the illegal drug trade, with all of its accompanying violence, death, and misery, would be lessened in impact. While acknowledging the inherently addictive qualities of drugs and the need to reduce the number of people dependent on narcotics, it is the drug trade, in contradiction of most people's assumptions, that causes the high levels of human suffering.

Resources
Boaz, David and Timothy Lynch. "Federal Drug Prohibition Should Be Repealed." Legalizing Drugs. Ed. Stuart A. Kallen. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006.
Cole, Jack. "The War on Drugs Is Destroying Lives." Legalizing Drugs. At Issue Series. Ed. Stuart A. Kallen. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006.
Drug Policy Alliance. "The War on Drugs Is Racist." Legalizing Drugs. Ed. Stuart A. Kallen. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006.

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