Legalization: New soldiers in fight against drug war

This column follows on a recent Providence (Rhode Island) Journal editorial advocation legalization of marijuana.

...

New soldiers in fight against drug war | Froma Harrop: Columnists The Providence Journal: "... note that the federal Drug Enforcement Administration’s budget has more than quadrupled over the decade to $2.6 billion — without making a dent in the quantity of illegal drugs sold in America. (The narcotics, meanwhile, are more potent than ever.)

But the DEA bureaucrats know how to expand a mandate. The agency now operates 86 offices in 63 countries and runs a shadow State Department that at times mucks up American diplomacy. It employs nearly 11,000 people.

And the DEA is but one expense in the drug war. Add in the costs of local law enforcement to round up suspects, courts to prosecute them and jails to hold them, and the war on drugs weighs in at about $50 billion a year. States and municipalities bear most of the costs." Jan. 2, 2011