The War on Drugs Is Lost: Steven B. Duke

Mr. Duke is the Law of Science and Technology Professor at Tale Law School. He is co-author, with Albert C. Gross, of America’s Longest War: Rethinking Our Tragic Crusade against Drugs (Tarcher/Putnam, 1993). Professor Duke pays special attention to the widespread assumption that legalization would bring on huge addiction. And ends by wondering why conservative politicians, with a single exception, are apparently indifferent to what is happening under our noses as a result of the unwon, and unwinnable, war on drugs.

‘THE DRUG war is not working,” says Bill Buckley. That is certainly true if we assume, as he does, that the purpose of the drug war is to induce Americans to consume only approved drugs. But as the war wears on, we have to wonder what its purposes really are.

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Steven B. Duke

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William F. Buckley Jr.

Mr. Duke is the Law of Science and Technology Professor at Tale Law School. He is co-author, with Albert C. Gross, of America’s Longest War: Rethinking Our Tragic Crusade against Drugs (Tarcher/Putnam, 1993). Professor Duke pays special attention to the widespread assumption that legalization would bring on huge addiction. And ends by wondering why conservative politicians, with a single exception, are apparently indifferent to what is happening under our noses as a result of the unwon, and unwinnable, war on drugs.

‘THE DRUG war is not working,” says Bill Buckley. That is certainly true if we assume, as he does, that the purpose of the drug war is to induce Americans to consume only approved drugs. But as the war wears on, we have to wonder what its purposes really are.