Forty-years ago, President Nixon proclaimed that the U.S. was at war on drugs.This conference takes a comparative look at drug-war policy in an effort to calculate the effects on societies and economies. We consider the burgeoning prison population and different perspectives on addiction and rehabilitation. We analyze the underground drug market which extends to villages in Colombia, slums in Mexico City and warring cartels that have devastated the U.S.-Mexico border. Finally, we consider policy alternatives that better grapple with a forty year problem with a twenty-first century perspective. For more information, including registration, see http://warondrugsconference.utep.edu/. Questions can be directed to [email protected].