I admit not to watching the series, but the article's title did get my attention, in full: 'The nonsense of a 'War on Drugs': The Wire's writers get it, governments consistently don't'.

Within the article are some promising links on reputable studies into the issues and the script writers remarked:
[The US government's war on drugs is] nothing more or less than a war on our underclass, succeeding only in transforming our democracy into the jailingest nation on the planet.
Link:http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/to...istently-dont/