War on Drugs

Fifty-three percent of Americans say war on drugs has not been worth the cost.

Conservative estimate of cost of drug war in 2011.

"For 2011, the federal portion of the Drug War budget will amount to $23.44 billion."
"The state portion of the Drug War costs comes from a report titled, "Shoveling Up: The Impact of Substance Abuse on State Budgets", authored by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, in 2001, which in its press release and on page 3, shows that states spent $30.7 billion in 1998 on "the burden of substance abuse on the justice system -- for incarceration, probation and parole, juvenile justice and criminal and family court costs of substance involved offenders". In other words, that $30.7 billion represents only "justice-related" (Drug War) expenses in state drug budgets."
"So, add that $30.7 billion that the states will spend, to the federal amount of $23.44 billion and you'll get $54.14 billion total, which means that the War on Drugs will cost American taxpayers.."

That's hyper-conservative.