From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Is it time to cease fire in the war on drugs?

Hello again, I'm Mormon Alney, and this is To the Poet from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues, Americans care about most.

As a U.S. Senator, Barack Obama, said the war on drugs is an utter failure.

Many narcotics, agents, prosecutors, and judges agree.

New York may repeal tough anti-drug laws.

The federal government may stop raids in states that have legalized medical marijuana.

That's now California's top crop,

and there's a proposal to regulate and tax marijuana

for state revenue during hard times.

Would ending the war take the profit out of crime,

violence, and increased addiction,

or would it be like fighting a fire with napalb?

On reporter's notebook later on,

a rat, a rabbit, and Eve San Laurent. First,

here's the news. Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the

Public Radio International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation, the John

D. and Catherine T. MacArthur

Foundation, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, dedicated to the idea that all people

deserve the chance to live a healthy, productive life. Information at Gates Foundation.org.

Hello again, Warren Allie, back with To the Point. Three former South American presidents

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