How society should respond to drug use and addiction — through prohibition and criminal enforcement, public health treatment, harm reduction, or legalization — with genuine evidence about what works and genuine value disagreements about liberty, order, and the nature of addiction
The United States has spent over $1 trillion on the War on Drugs since President Nixon declared it in 1971. Drug overdose deaths reached roughly 110,000 in 2022 — more than any previous year on record. Drug use rates have not declined significantly relative to countries with very different drug policies. In 2001, Portugal decriminalized all drugs and invested in treatment. Its overdose death rate is now among the lowest in Europe.