ABSTRACT
The “war on drugs” became a popular expression in 1972, when it was first used by President Richard Nixon to describe the nation’s drug enforcement programs. But despite the hundreds of billions of dollars, immeasurable investigative man-hours, arrests, trials, and incarcerations, the problems associated with the sale and use of illegal drugs continue. The cost to our society from the cultivation, processing, importation, distribution, and use of these illicit substances cannot be measured in dollars; rather, it must be considered in terms of human misery, health care costs, lost productivity, and the escalation in violent and property crimes. While this war is still waging, the prospects for total victory appear to be dim. Yet as a society we have taken the positions that illegal drugs must be eliminated and that drug dealers and at times drug users must be detected, prosecuted, and jailed. To this end, specialized narcotics investigation units have been developed at the federal, state, and local levels.
