This is your country on the war on drugs ....

.... any questions?

My new book with colleague Renee Scherlen is out soon.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Drug War Statistics (SUNY PRESS).

In it we show that the drug war fails to meet all its stated and assumed goals, that the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy knows this, AND that the White House nevertheless denies it (using data and statistics which are flawed and in some cases manipulated).

Specifically, the drug war does not:

* reduce drug use or drug abuse
* reduce drug availability
* increase the number of people in treatment who need treatment
* prevent illness or death associated with drug use and drug abuse
* raise prices
* decrease purity
* regulate drugs for safety

Meanwhile, the drug war imposes far more serious costs on America than it leads to benefits. Tens of billions of dollars are lost every year ... hundreds of billions if you include criminal justice costs and lost revenues that could be gained if drugs were legally available.

Then there is racial bias.

And deaths caused by our policy.

Here is just one example.

Should anyone, under any circumstances, die in the custody of criminal justice because they smoked a joint? I mean, really? Ever?

Why is the outrage of the drug war not mainstream news? Every day?