Despite more than half a century of prohibition, with more than a trillion dollars spent, illicit drug use across the world has not been brought under control.

Since its inception in 2016, Australia’s National Wastewater Drug Monitoring Program has found a year-on-year increase in consumption of methylamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl, with a relatively small downward trend in heroin and MDMA use. Globally, the UN reports that the number of drug users has increased from 208 million in 2006, to 255 million in 2015.

These are damning statistics, particularly when weighed against the economic and human costs of prohibition.