People say it failed without recognizing how bad the crack epidemic was, and is currently only a shadow of what it could be had it been left unchecked.

Yes, there are still drug problems - but not to the common extent you saw in the 80's.

I think the issue is that people hear the word "war" and think that only the cops and military are the sole soldiers. There is only so much they can be expected to capture without some massive invasion of citizen rights.

The truth is that more must be done by the communities themselves. Whether you call it a "war", or by any other name, you will need more than just cops and TLA's to solve the problem.

And yes, we should spend more on education as part of all of these efforts. The concerned citizens of this country have been asking for that balance to change for a large number of reasons. Unfortunately the status quo remains.