Will the Taliban’s Opium Ban Last?

Economic and Political Forces Derailed Afghanistan’s Past Attempts at Prohibition. Today the Future of the Cash Crop Is Uncertain

Do prohibitions ever work?

The 1919 Volstead Act prohibiting the production and sale of alcohol across the United States failed to stop people from drinking, and instead fostered an economy of smuggling and home-brewing. Richard Nixon’s “war on drugs” didn’t stop drug addiction; on the contrary, since the 1971 Controlled Substances Act, drug use has increased and both illicit and legal drugs have become more available and diverse in the U.S. than they were 50 years ago.

And as far as I know, the ban on Big Gulps in New York City …