Mr. Stossel,

do yourself a favor and check out a group by the name of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition).
url:
http://www.leap.cc/cms/index.php

I absolutley agree with you, but no one can have nearly as much cache as current and former Law Enforcement agents (involved in Drug Prohibition)who have come to the realization that our Drug Prohibition (really what it is, and strips the debacle of any foolish notions of a 'war', as no one really enters into a 'war' if they feel that victory is unatainable) is a sham and a cancer that destroys MANY more lives than the harmful effects of drugs do.

I've seen just as many lives destroyed by legal DRUGS (in caps cause many people are in denial that Tabacco and Alcohol are in fact Drugs) as I have by ellegal ones, but our society as a whole is being torn apart by are foolish policies, as are the societies of other countries.

Those who listen to the opinions of the DEA as awhole are being misled. Of course they are opposed to a change in our Drug Prohibition laws: they would be out of a job.

It's our duty to enlist in a new war, that of rationality VS the drug Probition machine of Lies and Hysteria.

Once again, John Stossel is a voice crying out in the wilderness for common sense and reason. The effects of drug prohibition, both for the individual and for society as a whole, are far worse that the effects of the drugs themselves. And the distinction between legal and illegal intoxicants is purely arbitrary, a matter of cultural prejudice. The criminalization of certain drugs is nothing more than an attempt to legislate taste. As comedian Bill Maher points out, marijuana is the one recreational drug that has never killed anyone. (Maher also emphasizes that, like Mr. Stossel, he believes drugs should be legal for ADULTS. You've got to know what reality is before you start mucking around with it!)

If only someone with as much common sense as you would run for President, America would be a free country again.

Jon, absolutely agree with you one hundred percent. America used to be about freedom and protecting those freedoms from tyranny and oppressive forces which would do harm to those freedoms. It has since become a country to scared to stand up for itself, too scared to believe anymore. I don't blame them either, growing up with America around me I have felt what the news at night has said to me, that this country is the greatest country on the planet. I have since learned that what they meant to say is this could be the greatest country on the planet. Could being the key word here because of all the money that goes into national defense and this ridiculous war on drugs could be helping the poor and homeless. It could be money spent on education or infrastructure but instead they build up our arms programs so that at the end of the day when we are starving and poor and our homes and loved ones lives have all been invaded we will have nothing left but to fight. This fantastic veil of terrorism is nothing compared to the complicit genius that designed it. I believe you are completely right in your stance though, this war on drugs has been throwing away tax payer money for much too long. When will they finally realize that it is something they cannot fight unless they fully acknowledge that this is no longer a free nation, in it's stead a fascist regime created through fear. It is only our freedoms that separate ourselves from the rest of the world.