The number of laws in place to discourage illicit drug abuse have only increased with time. However, despite the array of anti-drug laws put in place for its prevention, Illicit drug use in the United States has been increasing rather than decreasing
The expected decrease in drug abuse associated with the creation of more laws and anti-drug related institutions has not proven to be certain. In reality, drug abuse has continued to increase despite the implementation of these new systems. This is not to suggest that the establishment of institutions in any way causing an increase in drug abuse; rather that it has been unsuccessful in achieving its primary purpose of diminishing such abuse.
Never has the attempt to stop the consumption of illegal substances been made more official as during the prohibition. Although the prohibited substance in that time was alcohol rather than opiates and narcotics like we see modernly, the lesson learned is entirely applicable. The institutional opposition was so official that it was even included as an amendment in the constitution, which is more powerful and binding than any law. Even with the political strength that uniquely the constitution can bring, the best estimates are that the consumption of alcohol only declined by thirty to fifty percent during the prohibition.
Half, and potentially seventy percent of the designed sobriety was unsuccessful even when backed by arguably the most powerful political document in this nation. However, this bleak statistic does not suggest that the problem is unconquerable. Rather, it suggests that fifty to seventy percent of progress towards a drug-free society will not be achieved by the creation and enforcement of anti-drug laws.