With regard to the War on Drugs, your "specific quantity of government" has resulted in:
* Asset forfeiture with no finding of guilt
* The PATRIOT ACT being used far more for drugs than anything terrorism-related
* A prison system that incarcerates more people per capita than any other country on the planet
* Drug/narcotics checkpoints
And, of course, no knock raids, police corruption, increased organized crime and a whole host of other things courtesy of a "specific quantity of government".
Meanwhile, illegal drugs are every bit as available and cheap as they have always been since the farcical War On Drugs was announced.
When will clear-thinking people admit this has been a 100% failure?
* Asset forfeiture with no finding of guilt
Yes, and that is wrong and needs to be repealed.
* The PATRIOT ACT being used far more for drugs than anything terrorism-related
That was not enacted as having anything to do with the "war on drugs." That act has it's own inherent flaws that have nothing at all to do with fighting drugs, but as with the RICO statutes and other governmental laws, it has been perverted into something it was never intended to be.
* A prison system that incarcerates more people per capita than any other country on the planet
And needs to. That isn't even being reasonable to blame incarcerations on drugs. We have more murderers, rapists, robbers and thieves than do the other nations. Many of the "drug" incarcerations are plea deals to get them out of more serious crimes.
* Drug/narcotics checkpoints
Never ran across one of those. Seen traffic stop checkpoints, but I don't even know how you could create a "narcotic" check point. You have to have probable cause to search.
And, of course, no knock raids, police corruption, increased organized crime and a whole host of other things courtesy of a "specific quantity of government".
And you think none of this would have happened without a war on drugs? I think that is a naive understanding of what is going on in the world. Government is increasingly seizing ever more power using any and all pretexts for doing so.
Meanwhile, illegal drugs are every bit as available and cheap as they have always been since the farcical War On Drugs was announced.
Meanwhile Murders, rapes, and robberies are still every bit as available and cheap as they have always been since the farcical war on crime was announced.
By your logic (that unless something is absolutely eradicated) efforts to control it must be a failure, then laws to prevent murders, rapes and robberies are also failures, and so should be done away with.
Do you know how ridiculous it is to suggest that because we have a 2% usage in this nation the whole effort is a failure?
This idea demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding regarding the nature of law. Given the constraints put on the war on drugs (not actually killing and destroying foreign suppliers) then I would say holding it down to 2% of the population makes it a pretty d@mn successful program.
You just aren't grasping what success is supposed to look like.