Is the war on drugs really just a jobs program?

Not so much a jobs program as a job security program. The people who benefit from the war on drugs (law enforcement, prosecutors, prison guards, companies with various government contracts), want to keep what they've got, and so they foster the paranoia that accompanies the war on drugs. Their words, actions, and policies have helped to institutionalize the entire process of busting drug users, forcing them to pay lawyers, sentencing them to prisons, etc. While they should be enforcing laws, they should not be propagandazing the American people with false statistics, fear-mongering, etc., merely to perpetuate their own role in the economics of law enforcement.