The ‘war on drugs’ has failed. There’s another way to solve the US fentanyl crisis | Letter

To defeat the cartels, governments should decriminalise personal use and create legal drug markets, says Richard Branson. And Richard Kilroy decries US military action against suspected drug-runners

Your editorial on the so-called war on drugs (Donald Trump is turning a failed metaphor into a more dangerous reality, 7 September) is correct: the extrajudicial killing of alleged drug traffickers will not solve the US fentanyl crisis.

Anyone who has followed past attempts to militarise drug law enforcement will know that such efforts are bound to fail. For instance, despite billions in military and counternarcotics assistance by successive US administrations, Colombia now produces more cocaine than ever before, flooding a rapidly growing market.

Continue reading…