Despite decades of drug enforcement efforts and billions spent on the War on Drugs since the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, society faces record drug deaths, increasing street availability, and drugs of greater potency and danger.
Organised crime gangs continue profiting enormously from the misery they create in communities, threatening institutions through corruption and wealth-derived influence.
However, the author contends this worsening spiral results not from inadequate enforcement efforts, but from enforcement itself. Prohibition has created an uncontrolled illicit market where dealers determine what is sold, at what price, with what potency — beyond government influence. Who receives supply remains unknown until criminal system involvement occurs.
The piece argues that drug seizures, celebrated as successes, actually intensify market competition and community violence. Until leaders acknowledge that enforcement generates and sustains these problems, rhetoric and falsehoods continue winning votes "at a horrific cost in ruined lives."
It's time for the truth.