$780 million in Afghanistan, $2.5 billion in Colombia - who knows how much elswhere - I wonder what could have been done with that money in drug education and prevention programs? If the market could be eliminated - and I believe it could be, or at least greatly reduced - the legal and illegal drug trade would disappear. (I count alcohol and tobacco abuse along with heroin, cocaine, marijuana, ecstacy, etc)

Studying why people are using drugs and finding ways to help them avoid those traps would not only eliminate all the crime associated with the drug trade, it would also, and more importantly, vastly improve the lives of the former and potential users.