My Question for Joe Biden

The New York Times asked several contributors what question they'd pose to Sarah Palin or Joe Biden.  They asked me to submit a drug-war related question for Biden.  Here it is:

Senator Biden, you've been one of the Senate's most ardent drug warriors. You helped create the office of "drug czar"; backed our failed eradication efforts in South America; encouraged the government to seize the assets of people merely suspected of drug crimes; pushed for the expanded use of racketeering and conspiracy laws against drug offenders; advocated the use of the military to fight the drug war; and sponsored a bill that holds venue owners and promoters criminally liable for drug use by people attending concerts and events.

Today, illicit drugs are as cheap and abundant as they were decades ago. Would you agree that the anti-drug policies you've championed have failed? If not, how have they succeeded?

reason contributor Gene Healy also contributed a question:

The claim by Dick Cheney that he was exempt from certain disclosure requirements because the vice president was a "legislative officer" has been greeted with outrage. But the main power the Constitution grants the vice president is a legislative one — breaking a tie vote in the Senate.

So, Governor Palin, Senator Biden, doesn't Mr. Cheney have a point?

But, then, if the vice president is a legislative officer, how can he wield the vast executive powers that Mr. Cheney has exercised, including orchestrating and supervising a warrantless wiretapping program?

Can the vice president shift between branches at his convenience? If not, what, in your view, is the constitutional status of the vice presidency?