The administration's approach to drug cartels relies — at least in part — on a blueprint for military strikes that mirror those waged during the global war on terrorism after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
For the first time in decades, the U.S. has decertified Colombia as a drug control partner — a symbolic blow to one of Washington's closest allies in Latin America.
For years, people who used drugs were treated like criminals, often given long sentences. Now there's growing acceptance that addiction is a treatable disease, but shame and discrimination linger.
Researchers know how to curb the risks of overdose and disease among drug users, but policymakers are reluctant to allow public health measures that include needle exchanges and access to safer drugs.
President Nixon called for an "all-out offensive" against drugs and addiction. The U.S. is now rethinking policies that led to mass incarceration and shattered families while drug deaths kept rising.
