On the cover of its February 12, 1996, issue, the conservative National Review proclaimed, “THE WAR ON DRUGS IS LOST.” According to the magazine’s editors, including well-known commentator William F. Buckley Jr.,

It is our judgment that the war on drugs has failed, . . . it is wasting our resources, and it is encouraging civil, judicial and penal procedures associated with police states. We all agree on movement toward legalization.

Buckley and other proponents of legalizing drugs argue that in order to relieve crowded courts and prisons and to eradicate the crime and violence associated with the illegal drug trade, America has no choice but to make drugs legally available. According to the Libertarian Party, half of the nation’s spending on law enforcement and prisons goes toward fighting drug-related crime. The party maintains that legalization would wipe out drug traffickers...