Images From the Global Drug War

The Big Picture over at the Boston Globe has archived a harrowing, provocative, and unsettling collection of images that offer a powerful glimpse of the human costs of a global drug war that celebrates--by even the most generous measures--a century of failure this year.

As the archive shows, the war on drugs has no geographic boundaries. Its myriad operations can be found in urban mega-cities as well as pastoral remotes, forming a global para-military response that is unprecedented in its cultural and institutional entrenchment. 

And while some of the photos present themselves as morality plays--whether that was the intention of the photographer or not--they all help to convey a sense of the contradictory feelings --hopelessness, misery, pride, accomplishment, numbness, and fatigue--engendered by the global drug war.

Thanks to the folks at Transform for the link!