NATION : War on Drugs Failing, Aide Says

The U.S. war on drugs in Peru and Bolivia remains dangerous and ineffective, with negligible amounts of cocaine being halted despite more than $100 million spent on the problem over the last 17 years, the State Department’s internal watchdog told Congress today.

The programs “have not resulted in significant reductions of coca cultivation or the disruption of cocaine trafficking in the host countries,” said State Department Inspector General Sherman Funk, whose staff just returned from the region.

“Coca production in these countries has increased every year and less than 1% of the illicit drugs have been seized,” Funk told the Senate Foreign Relations narcotics subcommittee, adding that it is uncertain whether the programs can be made to work.