Like most people of my generation, my introduction to the drug war was the “Just Say No” anti-drug propaganda of the mid-1980s. I remember the commercials well: racially-ambiguous girls and gang-banger boys lured clean-cut kids in dark stairwells with the frightening promise that some drug –any drug – would make them “feel good.” Later, the TV taught me that my brain would fry like an egg if I ever strayed and said “yes” – even once.

Although it was President Richard Nixon who first named a national drug czar, it was Ronald Reagan who launched the anti-drug offensive as we know it. The time was ripe: the conservative revolution had begun — a backlash to the loose morals and rampant drug use of the 1960s and 1970s.  The war in Vietnam was over and the hippie generation had traded flower power for Wall Street chic. Reagan wanted to shrink government, and the drug war gave him moral high ground against cushy social entitlement programs and liberalism.

On June 24, 1982, Reagan signed Executive Order 12368, which gave the White House new control over national anti-drug efforts. Addiction treatment programs were cut. Aggressive interdiction was prioritized. Stiff prison sentences were urged. The propaganda battle, in which there was no room for nuance, no distinction between pot and heroin, geared up.

From the Rose Garden, Reagan called on international governments to join the fight against drug trafficking and made it clear that any solution other than tough law enforcement was simply another form of surrender:

“Drugs already reach deeply into our social structure, so we must mobilize all our forces to stop the flow of drugs into this country, to let kids know the truth, to erase the false glamour that surrounds drugs, and to brand drugs such as marijuana exactly for what they are—dangerous, and particularly to school-age youth.

We can put drug abuse on the run through stronger law enforcement, through cooperation with other nations to stop the trafficking, and by calling on the tremendous volunteer resources of parents, teachers, civic and religious leaders, and State and local officials.

We’re rejecting the helpless attitude that drug use is so rampant that we’re defenseless to do anything about it. We’re taking down the surrender flag that has flown over so many drug efforts; we’re running up a battle flag. We can fight the drug problem, and we can win.” (Full remarks here.)

Now 28 years later, thousands have died in a U.S.-funded battle with drug cartels in Mexico, our prison systems are overflowing with non-violent drug offenders and our nation has spent $1 trillion with no measurable results. Last month, the War in Afghanistan officially became the United States’ longest military battle. But the War on Drugs has lasted even longer, with more casualties and domestic ramifications. It is time to consider whether this is a war that we as a nation can win, and at what cost. There will be more to come from CrawfordOnDrugs.com. Consider subscribing via RSS and follow me on Twitter (links to the left). And please join the conversation.