Efforts at interdiction, drug and property seizures, and other law enforcement efforts have been costly and ineffective. Their result has been death, destruction, and a drug supply network that will use every means in its disposal to make its product available to a willing market. However, the public, politicians, judges, and leading intellectuals increasingly believe that the "war" on drugs is unwinnable and should not be fought. Therefore, policies regarding drugs need a fundamental reassessment. The United States should stop viewing drug takers as victims and should instead view them as individuals exercising personal liberty in the pursuit of fundamental psychic needs. Such a view would lead to a network of controls that recognize the powerful role of personal responsibility and individual human behavior. Tables; figures; index; appended chronology of actions to address drugs since 1914; and lists of books, articles, reports, and other documents.