We're winning the war on drugs...again

The U.S. government claims that a rise in the price of cocaine shows that the drug war is succeeding. However, thanks to the way the BBC shows links to previous articles, a problem with the analysis is immediately apparent.

The Head of the Office of National Drug Control Policy tells us that for the first time in twenty years, there is a cocaine shortage that has led to a price increase. The timing is extremely important because the the Bush Administration wants to tout it as a way of getting a $1 billion anti-drug package to Mexico. President Calderón’s militarized policies have changed everything! We’re winning!

Oh wait. A convenient link to the side shows that in November 2005, the same U.S. official claimed that the price of cocaine was up, so the drug war was succeeding.

Critics say the price rise is just a temporary blip, and the war on drugs has made no real progress in 20 years.

And critics were right.