The truth known even to territorial animals is very simple: in order to protect oneself, one has to guard the perimeter. This is why a grizzly attacks you when you step on his land, although you may still be far away from him.
We have failed to live by this simple truth a few decades ago. It started with Vietnam, where we were fighting communism at the perimeter. Later that failure has extended to other areas of life.
In behavior, too, you have to hold your envelope. You have to enforce seemingly minor laws so that other laws are not broken. It is precisely the lack of enforcement that creates a public that has no respect for the law. We have not properly crashed this nonsense and raised several generations of people who think that it is OK to smoke pot; hence view it as a minor issue; hence, being rational, direct expenditure of resources to "bigger fish."
This is not how one fights wars. But we do, and this is why we lose --- first in Vietnam and recently on September 11.
Yep, primo buds don't shoot back.