lost, it's clearly unwinnable". So what should the United States do about the drug problem? The United States spent $17.7 billion in 1999 trying to fight the drug problem, but with the results showing that record amounts of drugs made it into our country, different tactics are being considered. "I believe that the way to cut drugs is to stop the consumer with treatment and intervention, it will be much cheaper and is much more cost effective." (Wagner-Flannery)
             The United States has the biggest demand for drugs in the world. 85 to 90% of drugs bound for the United States from the Caribbean, South America, Mexico, and Southeast Asia made it into the country. Many efforts have been made to stop the drug trade since the casual popularity of drugs came about 75 years ago. The international drug trade is a $400 billion a year industry making up 8% of the world's trade, greater than the international auto trade. As I mentioned earlier, the total amount of money at stake is over 1 trillion dollars. (D.E.A.NNICC)
             In the 1960's, President Lyndon Johnson was faced with the explosion of casual drug use and drug-related crimes. Johnson launched the first large-scale enforcement attack on drugs. He also merged two federal agencies creating the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in 1968, but trafficking still flourished. A few years later Richard Nixon saw to it that more government dollars be spent on treatment and intervention with nearly 60% of dollars going towards this. After Nixon's re-election he lost interest in the treatment theory because our Nation and our Congress wanted to see tough drug enforcement laws, and from this moment on spending for strict enforcement began a slow upward spiral. (Wagner-Flannery)
             During Gerald Ford's term, a Ford Foundation Committee found that "The criminal law approach has appeared to have little impact or effects on the growth of this problem...