[hardcandy]

If you want to understand the impact that the 'war on drugs' has had on inner cities check out Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon (http://fave.co/1p8kUh6) - an amazing read, and it's the book that the TV series The Wire is based on as well. I agree that these prohibitionist policies have done more harm to the people of the United States than just about anything else over the last few decades. There are also serious externalities, like Mexico becoming a failed state in part due to the narco cartels fueled by black market drug sales into the US.