Actually, I believe it was Richard Nixon who was responsible for the Controlled Substances Act, though the war on drugs has been going on far longer than that. A person by the name of Harry Anslinger is essentially responsible for beginning the war on drugs at the time of the repeal of Prohibition. If you do some research on him, you will find that the prosecution of drug users began as racially motivated, an "us vs. them" mentality, as the main users of illicit drugs at that time were non-whites.

Just my humble opinion.

Regards,
Fred