International efforts to contain opium production have been underway for a century and have attained limited success in the short run. However, the locus of the problem has shifted, and opium traffic has actually increased over the last century. Whether international efforts against drugs are worthwhile is arguable. The unilateral effort by the United States to combat drugs in foreign countries has been variously described as ineffective, misguided, unrealistic, ethnocentric, and as dangerous adventurism. It has not reduced the world's supply of drugs and has led to resistance and hostility among various allies. Governments must solve their own drug problems at home. The United States should take the following four steps: (1) eliminate illicit drug production within its borders, (2) undertake interdiction of all drug commerce within the United States, (3) recognize and treat abusers, and (4) stop illicit drug imports at the boundaries. Our society must also abandon hope in demonstrably useless strategies such as research and student drug education and should develop approaches to reduce the abuse of legal substances such as alcohol and tobacco. 136 references