What Will Happen After The War On Drugs

For many years, drugs have been the center of crime and the criminal justice system in the United States. Due to this widespread epidemic, President Richard Nixon declared the “War on Drugs” in 1971 with a campaign that promoted the prohibition of illicit substances and implemented policies to discourage the overall production, distribution, and consumption. The War on Drugs and the U.S. drug policy has experienced the most significant and complex challenges between criminal law and the values of today’s society. With implemented drug polices becoming much harsher over the years in order to reduce the overall misuse and abuse of drugs and a expanded federal budget, it has sparked a nation wide debate whether or not they have created more harm than good. When looking at the negative consequences of these policies not only has billions of dollars gone to waste, but the United States has also seen public health issues, mass incarceration, and violent drug related crime within the black market in which feeds our global demands and economy. With this failed approach for drug prohibition, there continues to be an increase in the overall production of illicit substances, high rate of violence, and an unfavorable impact to our nation.

As the variables above are added up it, quickly becomes apparent that the “war on drugs,” during the mid 1980s-early 2000s had a negative impact on American life. With all the money spent and lives ruined, the United States came no closer to solving drug issues it had faced in the years prior. Citizens took the biggest brunt of this “war” with the fact that not only did they have to forcibly financially support the “war on drugs,” but in some cases, they had their civil liberties encroached upon or even completely violated. It could be argued that retrospectively looking at the “war on drugs” makes criticizing our country and the officials in charge easy, but when you actually look at the statistics and events surrounding this time period criticism

The term “War on Drugs” was first used by the Nixon administration in the 1970’s, but the country has been enforcing policies against drug use, possession, and distribution since 1914, with the passing of the Harrison Act. They do this mainly through deterrence. The government makes laws and regulations against this kind of behavior and

In 1971 President Nixon declared an all-out war on drugs, now over a million non-violent drug offenders live behind bars. The war on drugs has been the longest, most costly, and destructive war in the US history as of today (Booth , 2007). The war on drugs focuses on the poor people, and not the bankers that launder the money. In 1973 Nixon created the DEA, which stands for Drug Enforcement Agency. The DEA is a federal agency responsible for enforcing laws and regulations governing narcotics, and controlled substances. Their job is to immobilize drug trafficking organizations. When Nixon declared the war on drugs in 1971, the federal budget was 101 million dollars, going into the year 2000; the federal budget allegation was 20 billion dollars. Half of what we spend in the court systems and prison is drug related (Booth , 2007).

The War on Drugs began in increments, first with President Nixon and secondly with President Reagan (Hill, Oliver, Marion, 2012). While under the Nixon administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration was developed due to the thought of how drugs can affect an individual as well as a community. Drugs did not only affect the user and the community, but also the families as well as children. Out of all the presidents, it is documented that President Nixon was one who had discussions about drugs more than any other president (Hill, et al., 2012).

In the late 1960's and early 1970's, the federal government began to increasingly tighten drug laws. In 1972, President Richard Nixon formally declared a "War on Drugs", which continues

The Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914 was the first of many laws due to the laissez-faire attitude toward drug use in the United States. Brecher 1972 states (as cited in Powell & Redford, 2016) society’s view on drugs was not problematic until the end of the nineteenth century. After the Civil War, a widespread epidemic of drugs swept across the nation, which fuels the drug wars of today (Powell & Brecher, 2016).

The earliest form of painkillers was first created in the 16th century where people used laudanum or opium prepared in alcoholic solution as pain relivers. In the early 19th century, people extracted morphine from old opium poppy plants and this form of painkiller was most commonly used in the American Civil War. As Morphine was found to be very addictive, chemists in the 1870s produced heroin that did not turn out to be a success as it was proved to be more addictive than morphine. Many other synthetic opiates such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet were produced respectively in 1984, 1995 and 1999. However, these synthetic opiates could only be given if prescribed by a doctor as they could also be addictive. There were also other options of

The War on Drugs is a term that is commonly applied to the campaign of prohibition of drugs. The goal of this campaign is to reduce the illegal drug trade across America. This term “ War on Drugs” was used during Nixon’s campaign in which he declared War on Drugs during a press conference in 1971. Following this declaration many organizations were created to stop the spread of drugs, like the DEA and Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement. Note that Nixon’s approach to this problem was to fund treatment rather than law enforcement. After Nixon’s retirement from office, most of the funding went from going into treatment to the law enforcement. Which militarized the police force giving the officer’s military weapons and gear. With this, the sentencing for possessing drugs was changed as well, resulting incarcerations rates to increase overtime. The increase of incarceration rates started to create many patterns that were soon noticeable. The funding’s that go into the law enforcement has shown to greatly have an affect on the incarceration rates.

The War on Drugs, like the war on Terrorism, is a war that America may not be able to afford to win. For over forty years the United States has been fighting the War on Drugs and there is no end in sight. It has turned into a war that is about politics and economics rather than about drugs and criminals. The victims of this war are numerous; but perhaps they are not as numerous as those who benefit from the war itself.

Starting in 1914 the U.S introduced the first probation acts that prohibited the consumption of Opiates and Cocaine with the Harrison Narcotics act of 1914 Later this act was amended to include marijuana. This Act was the first use of federal criminal law in the United Sates to attempt to deal with the nonmedical use of drugs (wisegeek). The war of drugs started primarily in the 1971 when Nixon declared the war on drugs. He dramatically increased the size and presence of federal drug control agencies (Drug Policy). With the first major organized drug imports from Columbia from the Black Tuna Gang based in Miami, Florida Columbia was quickly growing into a drug superpower able to feed America’s growing addictions.

A century of increasing drug control has started from the 1900’s when Chinese people moves to the United States and have used a drug called opium. Opium is a dangerous drug which has no safety or benefit for our body. The United States federal government started to place a control on Chinese immigration and ban of opium drugs. In 1915, The Harrison Narcotic act passed by congressman to curb drugs and prevent addictions. Every drug was illegal at this time but this didn’t stop people from purchasing it, this allowed drugs to gain a profit in money as drugs were worth more money. The Federal Government created war on drugs to ban every dangerous drug from cocaine, heroin, opium, and marijuana. People who were caught using drugs or selling were

In 2009 1,663,582 people were arrested for non-violent drug charges. These people’s lives are now forever changed because of a mistake they made. This mistake is continually made every single day and Americans are being punished in extreme ways for a non violent crime. The United States needs to decimalize all drugs because the drug war is costly, causes high incarceration rates, and isn’t effective as European drug solutions.

Many believe that cracking down on drug use will create so much fear in drug users that they will be too afraid to buy drugs, and the drug sellers will be too afraid to sell them. The War on Drugs was started by Richard Nixon in 1971. It was then expanded on by Ronald Reagan with the help of his wife Nancy Reagan and her “Just Say No” campaign. The number of nonviolent drug law offenders placed behind bars increased from just 50,000 in 1980 to 400,000 in 1997. Illicit drug markets lead to conflict and violence in the United States and must be harshly regulated (Legalize). The United States spent over one trillion tax dollars last year attempting to end drug use throughout the country. The money went to arresting the drug sellers and buyers, prosecuting them in court, and keeping them in prison for years. “Despite the move toward legalizations, the destabilizing influence of illicit economies and transnational crime will endure, and a sustained national effort will still be needed to address this evolving threat” (Legalize). One major concern that drives the war on drugs is the concern that many high school students are beginning to try these illegal drugs early in their lives. Politicians pass laws with severe consequences in an attempt to scare people from trying drugs. Drug trafficking leads to blurred global boundaries and

Drug use in the United States has been traced all the way back to the 18th century by James Inciardi. Inciardi first traced the beginning of drug use was opium then later on a variety of drugs that were used for medicinal reasons such as opium, morphine, and heroin. In 1914 the Supreme Court decisions in theses three cases of Webb v. U.S, U.S. v. Behrman, and Lindner v. U.S. along with The Harrison Act of 1914 which regulated the majority of the addictive drugs that were on the market at the time. The Harrison Act of 1914 and The Supreme Courts decisions made it practically unattainable for approximately 200,000 hardcore drug addicts and narcotic users to obtain their drug of preference by legitimate legal means. By making the ability to