40 Years After 'War on Drugs,' Heroin Becomes a Public Health Crisis Listen Download Embed Share Share this on Facebook (Opens in a new window) Share this on Twitter (Opens in a new window) Share this via Email Back in 1971, U.S. President Richard Nixon declared a "War on Drugs." Fast forward 40 years and we're facing another heroin epidemic, but the users, and the response, are very different. ( BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP / Getty ) Produced by Dana Roberson Produced by PRI and WNYC