Democrats in the Senate Appropriations Committee are asking  the State Department why the international War on Drugs has failed. These Democrats want to know why so much money has been spent in Latin America to fight the War on Drugs when it clearly hasn’t been working.

“The Committee notes that after investing tens of billions of dollars in counternarcotics programs in Latin America since the 1980s, the availability and use of illicit drugs in the United States remains high and the incidence of violence and corruption associated with drug trafficking in the region has steadily increased. Despite this, the counternarcotics strategies of successive U.S. administrations have remained largely unchanged,” they wrote.

The senators are giving the State Department 120 days to submit a report explaining what has happened. Many who support legalizing cannabis have noted that the War on Drugs has been a failure, and it’s clear these senators feel the same way.

Maritza Perez, director of the Office of National Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, told Cannabis News Box she agrees, too.

“The war on drugs has been a complete failure both at home and abroad. Countless lives have been lost, families have been torn apart, and people have been left in economic ruin thanks to the drug war,” Perez said.

Perez said the Biden administration hasn’t done a whole lot to change this situation thus far. The Biden administration has focused on helping improve economic conditions in the countries that have been hit hardest by the War on Drugs when it comes to the international War on Drugs, but it hasn’t yet done much more than that.

Perez said there are many things we can do at home to help communities that have been hit hardest by the War on Drugs.

“The best path forward would include removing criminal penalties for drug activity and investing in health-oriented strategies, such as life-saving harm reduction tools and strategies,” Perez said. “It would also require investing resources to build a society where people’s health needs, economic needs, and other needs are met.”

More lives will be lost if the U.S. doesn’t change its path, Perez said, and she said it “fuels mass incarceration and forced migration.” It’s important that the U.S. not only focus on changing the status quo at home when it comes to the War on Drugs but also changes how it approaches drug policy abroad, because both areas have harmful effects that impact the lives of millions of people.