Billions of dollars wasted, scores of lives extinguished or damaged, and countless liberties lost, thanks to the “war on drugs”.  What’s the result?   Narcotics are actually getting cheaper and easier to get, especially yayo:

Thirty-six years after President Nixon declared a “war on drugs,” cocaine remains thoroughly in demand and it’s as cheap and trendy as ever.

“Coke’s a social thing, and I always pair it with alcohol,” said a 25-year-old Los Angeles woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, to ABC News.

Gives new meaning to “Rum & Coke”, don’t it?

Seriously though, take a moment and think about how you probably picture this woman in your head.  Disheveled, probably unemployed except for as a hooker or something, looks like she’d be on Jerry Springer?  Well…not quite:

With a master’s degree and a career in media, she may not be many people’s mental image of a regular hard drug user, but the woman interviewed fits that description and admitted that she did cocaine every night she went out.

And she’s not alone. The availability of inexpensive cocaine at nightclubs, bars and house parties is an increasing issue, according to drug rehabilitation experts. (emphasis mine)

Somewhere, a rabid drug warrior is having a brain aneurysm right now.  This doesn’t fit their black & white view of drug use, as if the slightest touch turns people into amoral zombies.  “What?!?  Moderation in drug use?!?  A cocaine user with a Master’s degree?!?  That’s unpossible!!”  Yes, it is possible, people do the same thing every day with other, legal mind-altering substances like liquor, caffeine, and chocolate.

So, how cheap is cocaine now?

According to figures from The Atlantic magazine, cocaine prices per pure gram fell from $600 in the early 1980s to less than $200 by the mid-1990s. Today, a gram of cocaine is sold for between $20 and $25 in New York. In Los Angeles and Seattle, it can be bought for as little as $30, while in Dallas it ranges from between $50 and $80.

To put that in perspective, consider that it costs $66 to fill up a Hummer — and that’s for the H3 model, the bigger ones would be even more.  How long until someone develops a vehicle that can run on nose candy?