Annual Causes of Death in the United States
Tobacco: 435,0001
Poor Diet and Physical Inactivity: 365,000
Alcohol: 85,000
Microbial Agents: 75,000
Toxic Agents: 55,000
Motor Vehicle Crashes: 26,347
Adverse Reactions to Prescription Drugs: 32,000
Suicide: 30,622
Incidents Involving Firearms: 29,0001
Homicide: 20,308
Sexual Behaviors: 20,000
All Illicit Drug Use, Direct and Indirect: 17,000
Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Such As Aspirin: 7,600
Marijuana: 0
From: Drug War Facts

Walter McKay

"We were making anywhere from 8-11 arrests a night. And did we make a difference? Did we win the drug war? We didn't do anything."


For 12 years, until he retired in 2002, Walter McKay walked a beat on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. He spent four of those years with the "Odd Squad," a group of officers who produced an award-winning documentary film about the Downtown Eastside and drug addiction called Through a Blue Lens.

"Their drugs were for personal use and we didn't make those kinds of arrests, we just couldn't be bothered. We only made arrests for those who were dealing and trafficking in drugs and that kept us busy; we couldn't arrest enough of those. You know what? It's almost punishment enough, what they're doing to themselves in that kind of filthy condition. There's nothing we can do to dissuade them by putting them through the criminal justice system."

Walter came to realize that we can enforce our way out of this problem; the only way to eliminate the black market in drugs is to end prohibition. He left the VPD to pursue academic studies and is currently working on police reform in Mexico. You can learn more about his work at: www.policereform.org.