It's no secret that drug use continues to be at an all-time high in the United States and internationally. The reality is that, despite a gradual decline in the daily use of marijuana, the United States still has the highest rate of illicit drug use among young people of any industrialized nation in the world. By some estimates, it's 60 times greater than what it was when we first began to track alcohol and other drug use among kids in the U.S. Internationally, drug use by young people is a serious concern.
Some countries concentrate on treatment and rehabilitation.
Many levy stiffer penalties and build more prisons. Still others have embraced the approach of legalizing drugs. There's very little evidence to indicate that legalizing drugs will help reduce demand. We need only look at the 500,000 teenage alcoholics in America today to see that legalization is not the answer. As for interdiction, I've talked with drug enforcement representatives in many different countries around the world.