For a TLDR, look two the first two paragraphs of the last section: """"""""""""""""""""" The war on drugs has been fought largely with laws that were beyond C

For a TLDR, look two the first two paragraphs of the last section: """"""""""""""""""""" The war on drugs has been fought largely with laws that were beyond Congress's powers to enact. Although it took a constitutional amendment to allow Congress to prohibit alcohol nationwide, the prohibition of now-illicit substances under the CSA took place without any such amendment. This is perhaps mainly a commentary on the Supreme Court's expansive reading of the Commerce Clause, but it should give pause to anyone who takes the Constitution seriously. Beyond the modern drug war's legally dubious initiation, the strained legal interpretations and yawning exceptions officials have made to sustain the effort continue to warp our constitutional system. In prosecuting and expanding the war on drugs, the federal government has racked up colossal amounts of debt, fostered state protectionism, adopted countless new federal crimes, and invaded foreign countries without congressional authorization. Meanwhile, government actors at all levels have undermined Americans' freedoms of expression and religious exercise, deprived citizens of their rights to vote and bear arms, authorized warrantless searches and seizures of property without due process, and thrown tens of thousands of people — disproportionately racial minorities — into overcrowded prisons for sentences that are out of step with the crimes they've committed. These actions have changed our understanding of such foundational principles as limited government, federalism, and the separation of powers, all while casting doubt on America's commitment to the rule of law. """""""""""""""""""