America’s “war on drugs” has cost billions of dollars annually since the early 1980s. For example, the federal government was projected to spend $16 billion to control illegal drugs in 1998, a nearly sixfold increase from the amount spent in 1985. The nation’s antidrug campaign—including arrests of drug users and traffickers as well as the interdiction of drug shipments—has had mixed success. It helped to slash the number of regular users of illicit drugs from twenty- three million in 1981 to twelve million in 1996. Cocaine use, for example, has substantially declined. However, marijuana use among teenagers and the number of teen drug users doubled between 1992 and 1995.

Experts sharply disagree as to which strategies are most effective at reducing drug use in America, a country that surpasses all other nations in demand for illegal drugs. While some observers advocate increased law enforcement efforts...