by Barry McCaffrey

About the author: Barry McCaffrey is a retired four-star general and served as the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) from 1996 to 2001.

Although 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 recognize that we cannot afford to let the demand for, and cultivation, production, distribution, trafficking, and sale of illicit narcotics and psycho-tropic 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 our children and grandchildren. If we are to...