by Barry R. McCaffrey

About the author: Barry R. McCaffrey is director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, a position commonly referred to as “drug czar.”

Though no single issue dominates our Hemispheric agenda, the overall problem of illegal drugs and related crimes represents a direct threat to the health and well-being of the peoples of the [Western] Hemisphere. All of us here today recognize that we cannot afford to let the demand for and cultivation, production, distribution, trafficking, and sale of illicit narcotics and psychotropic substances interfere with the aspirations of our peoples. Illegal drugs inflict staggering costs on our societies. They kill and sicken our people, sap productivity, drain economies, threaten the environment, and undermine democratic institutions and international order. Drugs are a direct attack on...