by John P. Walters and James F.X. O’Gara

About the authors: John P. Walters is former deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. James F.X. O’Gara is former drug policy advisor to U.S. senator Orrin Hatch.

In one of the most compelling TV ads in the White House’s new anti-drug campaign, 13-year-old Oakland native Kevin Scott talks about the daily nightmare he faces walking home from school past open-air drug markets. “The dealers are scared of police, but they aren’t scared of me. And they don’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” The concluding voiceover intones: “To Kevin Scott and all the other kids who take the long way home, we...