No greater threat faces America today than that posed by illicit drugsand this despite the well-publicized menace of international terrorism. Rather than destroy us from the outside the war on drugs corrodes society from within. In many of our cities drugs have transformed whole neighborhoods into lost places of criminality and despair. In order to assure a final victory we must understand the complexity of the challenge. Each drug has a unique historyfrom their country of origin to the way in which they are manufactured. These details help us appreciate the depth of the problem.