Discussion:
There have been continuous debates since the1970s when Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, declared a 'war on drugs' and this was supported by the United Nations.The latest debate in Australia produced a report titled:"The prohibition of illicit drugs is killing and criminalising our children and we are all letting it happen"byDouglas, B. & McDonald, D. 2012,(Report of a high level Australia21 Roundtable, ed.Australia21, Sydney).
At the same time, the media, lead by Fairfax publications,was leading debate in public forums andonline witha series of news articles on'The Drug Dilemma".The Sydney Morning Heraldcreated a wikicurve toencouragepublic comment onthe issue of thelegalisationofillicit drugs, quotingthe president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation that ''PLAN A clearly doesn't work, we should discuss the options for Plan B''(in reference tothe 'war on drugs'),(Review :Claims war is over draw new lines in divisive battle by Stephanie Gardiner).
Yet a pillar ofthe government policyis the supplyreduction and the policingof drugs.Why or how ispublicopinionand lobbying by interest groupsshifting the debate? The lobbyingappears to beunsuccessful in changingpolicy, at least in Australia.Your task is toresearch andanalysedebates on the current 'war against drugs' and its success or otherwise, globally and/or locally.