But it doesn&#x27;t want to.  It&#x27;s too central to its overall operating ideology -- specifically, the need to have a steady supply of marginalized groups, internal and&#x2F;or external (the exact definition and composition of which may change over time) to arbitrarily and vindictively punish, in order to demonstrate the state&#x27;s omnipotence, and keep the rest of the population not completely terrorized, but just moderately and optimally terrorized -- pretty much all the time.<p>(That, and because a significant portion of the population actually still genuinely believes in the need for it.   The war on drugs is a complex phenomenon, like any long-ranging civil conflict, with multiple factors behind both its inception and its continuance).