Just like drug use in this country, the drug war is constantly evolving. The history of drug use and the drug war has been documented by VH1 in "The Drug Years", but what does the future hold? Here are two developments that I suspect will have a substantial impact on the future of the drug war:
- Undermining enforcement: A hard-core drug warrior has switched sides, and is now selling a DVD called Never Get Busted Again. Barry Cooper was top anti-narcotics police officer in Texas, until he was forced to face with the corruption and destructiveness of the drug war--now he is telling drug smugglers exactly how to evade getting caught. I wonder if any economist will try to see what effect his videos have on drug prices.
- The next reefer madness: The media is abuzz with stories of kids using the "Mystery Sage". This plant produces a powerful but short-lived psychedelic effect (described as an "atypical psychedelic effect" at Erowid), which invites comparisons to LSD. Now that it's use is gaining some publicity, and kids are putting videos on YouTube, I expect it will be prohibited in the near future. Being a stronger drug than marijuana, I suspect that it won't be as popular, yet the short-lived intoxication will probably make it more attractive that LSD or mushrooms. However, I think it will trump both those drugs in terms of availability. In contrast to marijuana, the plants are smaller, and the drug is found in the leaves rather than the inflorescence (flowers), meaning that it should be easy to produce the drug quickly and discreetly. Furthermore, the plant is closely related to some herbs and decorative plants, with a similar structure, so it should be difficult for law-enforcement to quickly identify the plant (in contrast to marijuana, which is rather distinctive).
Due to these two developments, and the growing public acceptance of marijuana, drug warriors should look forward to a difficult future.