Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory - and I've got knowledge of a wide range of them to discuss with you - I'll be making a new one of these every week. :)

I'll post up the facts, and then you have to make your own decision on the matter. This week, I want to talk about the war on drugs.

- Over the past 40 years, the US spent more than $2,500,000,000,000 (2.5 trillion) fighting a constant war on drugs - a war that continues today.

- The Office of National Drug Control Policy shows that the US government spent $15,000,000,000 fighting drugs in 2010 alone. This breaks down to around $500 per SECOND.

- 10s of thousands will spend years or decades in prison because they have been convicted of participation of the war on drugs

- The modern war on drugs took place under President Nixon, with the creation of the Drug Encorcement agency in 1973.

- To the mainstream, this war hasn't gone well. Despite increased publicity and campaigning against drugs, the US is still the world's largest consumer of illegal drugs. An estimated 22 million citizens used illegal drugs at least once per month in 2009.

- It's a cause of great debate amongst politicians - some believe that the regulations should be made stricter, whereas others believe that posession of some drugs should carry less severe sentences, or be scrapped altogether. Almost all agree that the system could be improved.

- But not all: Some conspiracy theorists believe that the system is working just fine - because the war on drugs was never actually to eliminate the use of illegal substances in the US. They believe that the war on drugs is fought for alternative motives.

- In "Dark Alliance", journalist Gary Webb alleged CIA agents knew about, and protected, a high-volume drug network. (http://www.mega.nu/ampp/webb.html)

- In the 1980s, citizens of Los Angeles blamed the FBI and CIA for the crack epidemic

- The economy that has grown around stopping drugs is very profitable. What would happen to all the jobs created by the drugs trade if it were to stop?

- The US also has the highest incarceration rates for drugs, with 756 out of 100,000 people in prison. About half of all federal inmates are due to a drug-related offence.

- There is no denying that drugs are harmful, and addiction to a drug can have horrible consequences. About 443,000 US citizens die each year from tobacco-related diseases, and 70,000 suffer alcohol-related deaths.

- Nobody denies  that drugs laws are in place for a reason, but what IS this reason? Health and safety? Or something bigger, that is run by the prison service and intellegence agencies?

As somebody who has had a hand in the trade I can honestly say that the Draconian prohibition laws are great for business. Additionally, they have clearly done absolutely nothing to stem drug use. Ergo, the only logical conclusion is that the government has no interest in actually stopping drug use or they are very, very stupid. Both scenarios are plausible so it is difficult to draw any real conclusion about the motives behind this ridiculous ''war''.

I don't know what to think,but this is a great thread idea and I wish it great success.

it's all about money.
The government not even caring about covering up that they are being bought nowadays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj-b3pB6M7s

what the deficit at now? Could we cover it by just dropping the war on drugs? I am not sure, 2.5 trillion is a lot of dollars

Haha, nowhere close.  Going by the numbers in the OP, if we hadn't spent a penny on the drug war over the past 40 years (and hadn't spent it on something else), the national debt would be about 16.4% lower.  Although, that figure might be including money spent at all levels, not just federal (which means the percentage would be far lower).  The federal drug war spending only amounts to 0.4% of federal spending or 1.2% of the annual deficit.

Interesting theory.

Legalizing drugs should be win-win:
- Government wins because they get to tax drugs and make money off of them, and also they can save money by not having so many people in jail and being able to shut down the DEA.
- Citizens win because they get the freedom to do drugs if they want.

As long as you aren't hurting anybody (besides yourself) you should be allowed to do whatever drugs you want.

It might have started as a knee jerk reaction to 'clean up' but It's all about control now.
Legal drug abuse kills more people nowadays then illegal drug use.

"More people in the US die from an overdose of medications such as oxycontin than they do of heroin. Over one third of some 35-40,000 poisoning deaths each year in the US involve prescription opioids."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/datablog/2011/nov/30/prescription-drug-use-survey

Government / pharmaceutical industry already wins on prescription drugs. Legalizing marihuana would undercut their profits.

Some drugs should never be legalized like heroin but I find it strange that alcohol is regarded as 'safe' while a lot of far less damaging substances for yourself and others are heavily prosecuted.
http://www.saferchoice.org/content/view/24/53/