Academic Paper from the year 2019 in the subject Didactics - English - Applied Geography, grade: 2,0, , language: English, abstract: The war on drugs is often associated with and located in the United States of America, but only few people are (restrictedly) aware of what actually is beyond this 'war', i.e. 'Who are the protagonists?', 'What is the cause of it?', 'Which methods are applied to fulfil which targets?', 'Why is it called a war at all and against whom or what is it waged?' and most importantly, 'What is the outcome of its efforts?' The war on drugs itself, however, has often been depicted and denoted as both racist and a failure at various levels due to several wrong decisions committed by politicians as well as federal and local state officials, who on the one hand specifically mistreated certain demographic groups with methods of questionable legality and on the other hand tremendously failed with regards to foreign affairs. After a short terminological introduction this essay first discusses developments in foreign affairs and their contribution to the war's failure; It then moves on to discuss occurrences concerning domestic policies with regards to racial disparity; It then discusses the controversy of legalization whereby it essentially focuses on theoretical approaches and conceptions from the source's point of view and finally, merges into a conclusion.