War on Drugs

A British documentary producer reflects on his experiences in Peru and Colombia, and questions whether the war on drugs is worth the price - even if you assume an increase in drug use:

Yes, more people will try these drugs and there will be tragedies. But 30 years of the war on drugs have achieved almost nothing except to make a few people fantastically rich, to arm our inner cities, to criminalise a generation of users, and to leave tens of thousands of Latin Americans dead. As our cocaine maker in Peru happily told us: 'People want our cocaine because it is good and, for a while at least, makes them happy.'