John Tierney at the New York Times points to a new report showing that the drug czar’s office has failed to meet its own performance goals. It’s vital that we point this out, because the drug czar never will. Everything the drug czar does is a glorious success according to the drug czar and there is nothing morbid or awful enough to shatter the drug warriors’ avowed faith in their great war.

Sadly, this includes dramatic increases in overdose deaths, which the drug czar ignores while constantly boasting that overall drug use is down. It seems we’re getting better and better at arresting large numbers of marijuana users who don’t need help, while getting progressively worse at saving those whose battle with drugs is truly a matter of life and death.

The annual marijuana harvest season each fall brings increased discussion of the hopeless process of eradicating outdoor marijuana crops on public land. Growers are damaging precious natural resources and their livelihood continues unabated even as police achieve record marijuana seizures each year.

Fortunately, the Marijuana Policy Project has introduced the only plan that could possibly address the problem:

SAN FRANCISCO -- Recent alarming reports of environmental damage caused by illegal marijuana farms in national forests and wilderness areas in California and elsewhere show that an entirely new approach is needed in order to solve the problem, officials of the Marijuana Policy Project said today.

"Year after year we hear from law enforcement and U.S. Forest Service officials about growing environmental damage caused by these criminal operations, even as law enforcement seizures of marijuana plants set new records every year," said Bruce Mirken, MPP's California-based director of communications. "What we've been doing is plainly not working and has actually caused the problem in the first place. It's time to get off the treadmill and try a new approach."

Seriously. Who in their right mind could possibly contend that we are on pace to bring this mess under control? For decades, cops in combat fatigues have been rappelling from helicopters armed with industrial strength hedge-clippers and for what? Marijuana is the number one cash crop in America and that isn’t going to change no matter how many police we send off on these ridiculous drug war nature hikes.

Californians should be allowed to grow marijuana on their own property for all the same reasons that they are currently permitted to grow grapes and make wine.

Dear Editor, In the last month I attended the funeral of another victim of America’s Drug War. Like fruit plucked from the branch before it has ripened many of our children dead and many more to die as a result of this shameful “drug war”.