Despite an estimated $1 trillion spent by the United States in the “War on Drugs,” statistics from the United States Department of Justice (2010) confirmed that drug use has not changed over the last 10 years. Approximately $350 billion is spent on the “war on drugs” each year, while only $7 billion is spent on prevention programs by the federal government. The war on drugs focuses more on fighting crime than preventing it. Crime prevention methods may not be immediate, but they are the most efficient and effective in the long term. Not only is the war on drugs costly, it is also ineffective in reducing or eliminating trade and use. The “War on Drugs” campaign has been unsuccessful in preventing illegal drug trafficking. As a result, the campaign succeeded in marginalizing and impoverishing participating societies, causing social and economic damage. By highlighting the failures of this campaign, this paper will explain how alternatives can lead to more positive outcomes. Conventional “war on drugs” policies are harming communities. With harsher penalties for drug users, higher incarceration rates are occurring in the United States. Statistics have shown that the United States hosts 25% of the world's prisoners and 1 in 3 is involved in drug trafficking (International Center for Science in Drug Policy). In the United States, drug prohibition policies were intended to implement the idea of ​​becoming “tougher on crime” to decrease drug use. Unfortunately, the high incarceration rate has proven that the goal of the War on Drugs campaign has not been successful. The government suggests that by eliminating and punishing drug users in communities, drug trafficking would also be eliminated. With drugs......at the center of the document......gov/>.International Center for Drug Science and Policy - ICSDP. Network. 09 March 2011. .O'Grady, William. Crime in the Canadian context: Debates and controversies. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford UP, 2007. 13-14, 169. Print.Ojmarrh, Mitchell. "INEFFECTIVENESS, FINANCIAL WASTE AND INJUSTICE: THE LEGACY OF THE WAR ON DRUGS". Journal of Crime and Justice (2009). 1-19. Print.Whitmore, Allison M. “The Need to Know: Why Multiple State Drug Possession Offenses Shouldn't Automatically Equal an Aggravated Felony.” New England Journal on Criminal & Civil Confinement 36.2 (2010): 359-79. Print.Willis, Katie. “Measuring the Effectiveness of Drug Law Enforcement.” Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice 406 (2011): 1-7. Print.Witt, Jon. Soc: a matter of perspective. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. 397-412 Print. Canadian edition.