Winning the Drug War

THERE’S A WONDERFUL SCENE in the movie Traffic in which a captured drug kingpin, played by Miguel Ferrer, is being interrogated by two federal agents. Ferrer says to them disdainfully: “You people are like those Japanese soldiers left behind on deserted islands who think that World War II is still going on. Let me be the first to tell you, your government surrendered this war a long time ago.”

It’s a brilliant bit of filmmaking; it’s also bunk. Over the last five years, while no one was paying attention, America has been winning its war on drugs.