--- title: In Case You Hadn’t Realized, The War on Drugs Is a Spectacular Failure description: The global “war on drugs” has been such a failure that illegal substances are now cheaper and purer than at any period over the past... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7135407/in-case-you-hadnt-realized-the-war-on-drugs-is-a-spectacular-failure/ author: Charlie Campbell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-10-01T09:58:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T09:52:17.772Z article:section: Health og:title: In Case You Hadn’t Realized, The War on Drugs Is a Spectacular Failure og:description: The global “war on drugs” has been such a failure that illegal substances are now cheaper and purer than at any period over the past... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7135407/in-case-you-hadnt-realized-the-war-on-drugs-is-a-spectacular-failure/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb5fbcefdcf11e24/698a926fb3fce3f1a00d3166/hl_drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: Ecstasy pills og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: In Case You Hadn’t Realized, The War on Drugs Is a Spectacular Failure twitter:description: The global “war on drugs” has been such a failure that illegal substances are now cheaper and purer than at any period over the past... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb5fbcefdcf11e24/698a926fb3fce3f1a00d3166/hl_drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # In Case You Hadn't Realized, The War on Drugs Is a Spectacular Failure > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=da0352b4-53d4-4311-900a-141ea6f33b33&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Charlie Campbell](https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/) Oct 1, 2013 9:58 AM UTC  Ecstasy pills, which contain MDMA as their main chemical, are pictured in this undated handout photo courtesy of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. Ecstasy pills, which contain MDMA as their main chemical, are pictured in this undated handout photo courtesy of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. DEA / Reuters by [Charlie Campbell](https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/) Oct 1, 2013 9:58 AM UTC The global “war on drugs” has been such a failure that illegal substances are now cheaper and purer than at any period over the past two decades, warns a new report. The Vancouver-based [International Centre for Science in Drug Policy](http://www.icsdp.org/) surveyed data from seven international government-funded drug surveillance systems and concluded that drug use should be considered a public health rather than a criminal justice issue. The report found there had been a significant rise in the quantity of cocaine, heroin and cannabis seized in most parts of the world since 1990\. Nevertheless, the average price of opiates and cocaine in Europe, for example, when adjusted for inflation and purity, decreased by 74% and 51% respectively from 1990 to 2010. \[[BBC](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24342421)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7135407/in-case-you-hadnt-realized-the-war-on-drugs-is-a-spectacular-failure/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7135407/in-case-you-hadnt-realized-the-war-on-drugs-is-a-spectacular-failure/"},"headline":"In Case You Hadn't Realized, The War on Drugs Is a Spectacular Failure","datePublished":"2013-10-01T09:58:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T09:52:17.772Z","description":"The global “war on drugs” has been such a failure that illegal substances are now cheaper and purer than at any period over the past...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7135407/in-case-you-hadnt-realized-the-war-on-drugs-is-a-spectacular-failure/","keywords":["Drugs","war","Cocaine","Heroin","cannabis","narcotics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb5fbcefdcf11e24/698a926fb3fce3f1a00d3166/hl_drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell","url":"https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcb5fbcefdcf11e24/698a926fb3fce3f1a00d3166/hl_drugs.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ecstasy pills","caption":"Ecstasy pills, which contain MDMA as their main chemical, are pictured in this undated handout photo courtesy of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.","creditText":"DEA / Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7135407/in-case-you-hadnt-realized-the-war-on-drugs-is-a-spectacular-failure/","name":"In Case You Hadn't Realized, The War on Drugs Is a Spectacular Failure"}}]}] ```