Editorial: The long slog: America has mostly been fighting the ‘war on drugs’ the wrong way

June 17 marked the 50th anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s 1971 speech beginning the war on drugs. By any objective accounting, the drawn-out conflict has been a colossal failure. It was begun under false pretenses, has cost billions, has destroyed livelihoods and lives — and perhaps most glaringly, has not made a dent in drug abuse, which is unhealthy to individuals and society.