December 2012

Insanity: Four Decades of U.S. Counterdrug Strategy

This paper examines and criticizes the past several decades of US counterdrug strategy. Four decades of the US war on drugs has accounted for soaring economic, societal and human costs, with an annual counterdrug budget having risen from $100 million to $25 billion, and nearly 40,000 drug-related deaths in the country annually. The societal impact, in purely economic terms, is now estimated to be approximately $200 billion per year. Faced with impending budget cuts and a future of budget austerity, the report argues that policymakers must replace the longstanding US counterdrug strategy with a pragmatic, science-based, demand-reduction strategy.

This publication is subject to Title 17, United States Code, Sections 101 and 105. It is in the public domain and may not be copyrighted.

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