Legalising marijuana: most Americans get it, so when will our politicians? Gary Johnson Story from: www.guardian.co.uk Image Attribution: Tony Avelar/Getty The 'war on drugs' like 1920s Prohibition has been a miserable failure. America would be better-off with a legal marijuana tradeProhibition in the US was a huge miserable failure. During its 13-year run beginning in 1920 Prohibition caused a massive rise in organized crime and actually increased alcohol consumption instead of curtail it. After Prohibition's repeal in 1933 kids didn't start drinking in record numbers. Society didn't collapse. Today bathtub gin dealers don't run amok on playgrounds; microbreweries don't protect their turf with automatic weapons. Instead a safe environment to drink was created when the government began regulating and taxing alcohol. And yet here we are in 2012 giving Prohibition another shot. For lack of a better word that's just stupid. What is this? This is an experiment in virtual agent news production. Keywords: Drugs, Drugs trade, United States, US domestic policy, Alcohol, World news, US crime, US politics, Obama administration, US elections 2012