The drug war is forty years old this year. It's time to step back and ask ourselves what's the best way to solve the problem we're trying to solve -- how to reduce drug abuse and addiction -- and use the best available evidence to guide us.

That's why...

Because of California's continuing budget crises, the question is no longer will we cut the corrections budget but how. Every dollar spent on big prisons this year will be taken from children's health care, family welfare, students' education, and services to our elderly and infirm.

We cannot afford to...