As described in the novel The Tipping Point: How Small Things Can Make a Big Difference, the course of any trend, movement, social behavior, and even the spread of a virus has a general trend line that essentially resembles a parabola with 3 main critical points. Any trend line starts from zero, grows until it passes the first tipping point, and then spreads like wildfire. Thereafter, the trend skyrockets to its carrying capacity (Galdwell, 2000). Then the trend gradually declines before reaching the next reversal and suddenly loses favor and memory. Gladwell defines tipping points as the “magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, flips, and spreads like wildfire” (Gladwell, 2000). An important application is how tipping points and trend lines apply to the current state. and the future course of the war on drugs. According to Webster's dictionary, a war is the “organized effort by a government or other large organization to stop or defeat something that is considered dangerous or evil” (Merriam-Weber online dictionary, n.d.). Most people will unanimously agree that drugs and alcohol are harmful and at least potentially dangerous, especially in the case of substance abuse. Alcohol, drugs, and synthetic substances are associated with crime, violence, moral decay, brain damage, higher rates of school dropout, a multitude of health problems, and a host of other social problems. As a society, Americans indeed pay a high price for substance abuse. The bill for tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug abuse costs Americans more than $600 billion annually in areas such as crime, unemployment, lost productivity, and health care costs (National Institute on Drug Abuse, n.d.) . Based on these facts, it is… half of the article… M., & Barr, C.S. (2010). Alcohol response and consumption in adolescent rhesus macaques: life history and genetic influences. Alcohol, 44(1), 67. doi:10.1016/j.alcohol.2009.09.034The Global Commission on Drug Policy (2011). Global Commission on Drug Policy Drug War Report, June 2011. Retrieved from http://www.globalcommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/themes/gcdp_v1/pdf/Global_Commission_Report_English.pdfWar [ Def. 2b]. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster Online. At Merriam-Webster. Retrieved March 23, 2014, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/war>.West, S. L., & O'Neal, K. K. (2004). Effectiveness of DARE project results revisited. American Journal of Public Health. doi:10.2105/AJPH.94.6.1027Sinha, R. (2009). Chronic stress, drug use and vulnerability to addiction. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1141, 105-130. doi:10.1196/annals.1441.030