NPR Examines the War on Drugs

In a five-part series, The Forgotten War, NPR examines the progress in the past 38 years and the challenges ahead in the war on drugs.  The series is the result of six months of interviews of more than 100 people — including former drug czars, former addicts and drug smugglers, and Drug Enforcement Agency agents on the frontlines of the war. The series looks at efforts to fight drug production in Colombia and thoughts on how the widespread incarceration of drug offenders in the late 1980s and early '90s is affecting American cities today. Here is Part 1 of 5. . . [Michele Berry]