The Inadequate Treatment of Pain: Collateral Damage from the War on Drugs

Abstract

Once widely supported, the "war on drugs" has become increasingly controversial, as the political realization sinks in that it has wrought more harm than good. The Global Commission on Drug Policy, a collection of eminent former heads of state, businesspersons, and diplomats, bluntly declares that "the war on drugs has failed," while simultaneously "[generating] widespread negative consequences for societies in producer, transit and consumer countries."