America’s worst addiction could be its addiction to the war on drugs. “The war on drugs has been one of America’s most grievous mistakes, resulting in as many citizens with arrest records as with college diplomas. At last count, an American was arrested for drug possession every 25 seconds, yet the mass incarceration this leads to has not turned the tide on narcotics.” The war on drugs has been an epic failure, so any time someone is trying to address the drug problem in a different way, it’s worth noting. Especially if there are signs that the new way might be showing some signs of progress. Nicholas Kristof in the NYT: Seattle Has Figured Out How to End the War on Drugs. One of the more interesting aspects of the Seattle program is how a prosecutor’s experience with his own sister had a big impact on the change of tactics. “What Shelley needed was not a jail cell and not a judge wagging a finger at her, but she needed some support.”