The Sentence

Cindy Shank, mother of three, is serving a 15-year sentence in federal prison for her tangential involvement with a Michigan drug ring years earlier. This intimate portrait of mandatory minimum drug sentencing's devastating consequences, captured by Cindy's brother, follows her and her family over the course of ten years.

  America can end its war on drugs. Here's how

Decades into the war on drugs, the world doesn't have much to show for it. The US is now in the middle of an opioid painkiller and heroin epidemic that has killed tens of thousands each year, despite tough-on-crime policies enforced under the drug war. Mexico has suffered from tens of thousands of deaths annually as the black market for drugs finances drug cartels that are so powerful they can wage war against governments and conquer cities. And drug use and trafficking haven't declined by an appreciable amount for decades.

It’s time to kick our addiction to the war on drugs

If we are serious about preventing overdoses and reducing the harm associated with substance misuse in the US, similar programs should be created here. We need solutions that meet people where they are, treat them as human beings, and provide evidence-based services to help them make necessary changes to lead healthier and safer lives.

Just say maybe: Is the world ready to abandon the war on drugs?

JUST say no. That’s supposed to be our reaction to recreational drugs. The trouble is, lots of people say yes please. As a result, the world’s governments have been waging a war on drugs for more than a century. Since 1961, the battle has been orchestrated via international treaties targeting all parts of the supply chain, from the producers to the smugglers, the sellers to the buyers. Yet this supposedly united front has developed some conspicuous cracks.

The war on drugs, explained

The US has been fighting a global war on drugs for decades. But as prison populations and financial costs increase and drug-related violence around the world continues, lawmakers and experts are reconsidering if the drug war's potential benefits are really worth its many drawbacks.

Treating an Illness, Ending a War

This report examines the sources of the opioid crisis, surveys health and justice policy responses at the federal and state levels, and draws on lessons from past drug crises to provide guidance on how to proceed. The War on Drugs did not play a major role in ebbing past cycles of drug use, as revealed by extensive research and the reflections of police chiefs.

Canada Figured Out How to Win the Drug War

Don’t fight it.

Incarceration Nation: America's Unhealthy Obsession with Jailing Its Citizens

Over the last 40 years the United States has sacrificed schools and other means of social betterment so as to incarcerate a greater number of nonviolent offenders than ever before. It's a practice that has damaged the fabric of our nation. The question is: Are we ready to change course?

Presidential Mercy as a Means to More Just Jurisprudence

Recently President Obama commuted the sentences of hundreds of nonviolent drug offenders. But this is a drop in the bucket he should fill up before he leaves office.

A Brief History Of The War On Drugs

Commentator Cokie Roberts talks with NPR's Rachel Martin and responds to listener questions about the history of the politics of drug laws and enforcement.

A Mission Gone Wrong

Why are we still fighting the drug war?

A New HBO Documentary Exposes the Absurdity of the War on Drugs

The Sentence' follows a brother's incredible quest to get Barack Obama to pardon his incarcerated sister.

Drug War Waged Hard Against People Of Color

Attorney General Eric Holder says the war on drugs failed to stop demand and decimated black communities. Host Rachel Martin talks to University of California Santa Cruz sociology professor Craig Reinerman about drug policy since the 1970s.

Here’s Why the UN’s Big Meeting on Drugs Matters to You

Have you ever wondered why ending the War on Drugs isn’t as simple as passing a few laws in Congress? Well, it has to do with some pretty bad pieces of international law that tie the hands of national governments to policies that even they know kinda stink. Fortunately, there’s a coalition of really smart people working at the highest levels to untangle what is a really bad knot.

Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: Fighting for a Cure to the War on Drugs

The "War on Drugs" is societal sickness, failing by every metric while siphoning off precious law-enforcement resources and corrupting the body of our nation. A little over a decade ago, five former cops with first-hand experience on the front lines dedicated themselves to ending prohibitionism, a fight in which thousands of law-enforcement personnel have joined since then.

Nixon's 'war on drugs' began 40 years ago, and the battle is still raging

Despite decades of battling against narcotics, the levels of addiction, trafficking and violence continue to rise. The war on drugs has failed. Now, politicians in Latin America are calling to review all options – from full legalisation to a new war.

Sir Richard's War

An international team headlined by Richard Branson is trying to roll back the global war on drugs. And it’s getting started on the American front.

The Haunting Math Of America's War On Drugs [Infographic]

Keeping people locked up ain't cheap.

Time to Bury the Drug War and Envision New Drug Policies Rooted in Mercy and Compassion

I am now convinced that the war on drugs is simply not about drugs as many policymakers may want me to believe. Too many people are being harmed by our current drug policies. When our solution to a problem is doing more harm than the problem we’re trying to fix—we are fighting a losing battle. Forty years of sticking our heads in the sand is just reckless and irresponsible. It’s past time for a new approach in U.S and international drug policy.

We Have Lost the War on Drugs

The number of people who died of drug overdoses in 2014 is double those who died in 2000. It's time, finally, to face the ugly truth. We've lost the war on drugs in America. We need a new playbook, now, before more lives are lost.

What works best in the war on drugs

Drug policies have to be realistic to be effective, and prohibition clearly isn’t. Whatever else drugs might be, they also create powerful markets; in the absence of a legal source, strong demand finds other forms of supply.

Why we need to end the War on Drugs

Is the War on Drugs doing more harm than good? In a bold talk, drug policy reformist Ethan Nadelmann makes an impassioned plea to end the "backward, heartless, disastrous" movement to stamp out the drug trade. He gives two big reasons we should focus on intelligent regulation instead.

‘The Real History of Drugs’ Educates Millions

The United States’ longest, unwinnable war is the “war on drugs.” Despite decades of arrests and locking up millions of Americans, politicians and PSA’s urging us to “Just Say No,” illegal drugs are still as available as ever.  ‘The Real History of Drugs’ Educates Millions