THE DRUG WAR Prohibition, which lasted from January 1920 to December 1933, is the classic case of the Law of Unintended Consequences. The ensuing gang wars and government corruption surprised most Prohibitionists, but enough of them came to see that Prohibition had failed miserably and supported its repeal. Like Prohibition, the side effects of the War on Drugs are legion. When law enforcement focuses on milder drugs, like marijuana, users often switch to harder drugs. Methamphetamine use increased markedly during 1985-86 after crop destruction efforts slashed the marijuana supply in Hawaii.
Interdiction increases the production and consumption of drugs.
A House Judiciary Subcommittee reported that the massive effort to destroy the Medellin Cartel resulted in an increase of cocaine transshipment points from 11 to 25 and an expansion of cocaine processing to as many as 13 more countries. Most importantly, we must confront drug abuse as a threat to health treatable through science rather than superstition and hysteria. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and persists. Prior to World War II, the United States maintained insignificant military forces and weapons manufacturing industries during peace. But the weapons industry that has grown since the end of World War II inhabits an ill-defined zone between genuine private enterprise and complete government planning.