In retrospect, the nation’s “War on Drugs” from decades past turned out in some ways to be like the earlier conflict in Vietnam: A lot of resources spent and lives lost with very little gained but a perpetual stalemate. That campaign proved to be ineffective in battling the problem, though wildly successful at filling prisons nationwide. The specter of that effort was dug up last week when Attorney General Jeff Sessions moved to seek maximum charges from prosecutors for federal drug offenses, overturning an Obama Administration initiative to avoid “mandatory minimum” penalties in cases that involve nonviolent offenders.