The United States War on Drugs has been a periodic topic in the news for the past 40 years.
Are we winning? Who is the enemy? Who are the players? Well the answer to the last question is...
it keeps changing.
Much the same as a soap opera the story line stays the same but the characters come and go.
They, the enemy, replace Drug Lords as old ones are jailed or killed off and we replace our soldiers (war on drugs czars) with each new administration.
The U.
S.
strategy of capturing or eliminating the heads of Drug Organization and disrupting trafficking and money flow has remained the same.
  The United States War on Drugs, depending on what article you read is having varying degrees of success.
Our soldiers have intercepted tons of illegal narcotics and millions of the enemy's money.
Trafficking routs have been interrupted and the cartels of the 80's and 90's have been dismantled.
Our efforts should be praised for successes and for the persistent manner with which we attempt to stem the flow of illicit drugs into our country.
The United States War on Drugs is responsible for 500,000 of the prisoners that populate US prisons today.
This number eclipses the number of prisoners for all criminal offenses in Western Europe.
If we include the prison costs and combine federal and state expenditures for the War on Drugs the dollar estimate is 40 billion a year.
Prisons aren't the only institutions that are full.
Drug Rehab Centers are full of patients trying to get off the drugs that somehow find their way to our streets.
Illegal drug trade is a lucrative business and as long as there is a market for drugs; drugs will continue to flow in the streets of America.
The war on drugs can only be won when our society takes responsibility for the continuing demand of these drugs.
Our culture of escapism and quick fixes is not working.
These problems must be addressed in our families, schools and spiritual institutions and then we may see a real difference in the war on drugs.