President Richard Nixon : The United State

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.

The War on Drugs is seen by many as an enormous factor of mass incarceration. There were more than 1.5 million drug arrests in the U.S. in 2014. More than 80% of them were for possession only (Drug Policy Alliance, 2017). 208,000 people are incarcerated for drug offenses in state prisons and 97,000 are incarcerated in federal prisons for the same reason. 1 in 5 incarcerated people are drug offenders (Peter Wagner, Bernadette Rabuy, 2017). According to Politifact, “The state and federal prison population remained fairly stable through the early 1970s, until the war on drugs began. Since then, it has increased sharply every year, particularly when Reagan expanded the policy effort in the 1980s, until about 2010…. In 1980, about 41,000 people were incarcerated for drug crimes, according to the Sentencing Project. In 2014, that number was about 488,400 — a 1,000 percent increase.” Even other factors, like

The War on Drugs is one cause for the mass incarceration that has become apparent within the United States. This refers to a drastic amount of people being imprisoned for mainly non-violent crime (“Mass Incarceration” 2016). In addition to people who are not an immediate threat to society being locked up for a substantial duration of time, the economic consequences are costing states and taxpayers millions of dollars. Specifically, every one in five people incarcerated is in prison due to some

In 1971 on June 17, President Richard Nixon delivered a special message to the Congress on drug abuse prevention and control. During the presentation, Nixon made it clear that the United States was at war with this idea of drug abuse. What baffled Americans then, and still baffles Americans today, is that we are at war with our own nation with drugs; it is not some foreign affair like the media tends to focus on with Mexico. Nixon stated that at the time of his speech, what was implemented to control drug abuse was not working…“The problem has assumed the dimensions of a national emergency. I intend to take every step necessary to deal with this emergency, including asking the Congress for an amendment to my 1972 budget to provide an

Some people believe the drug war is too harsh and needs a new system for stopping the transportation and recreational use of drugs(becker and Murphy C.1). While the current government's method has more of a no tolerance view that most find to be the only way to stop these crimes(becker and murphy C.1).

According to the Department of Justice, in 2011, 48 percent of the all federal prisoners were incarcerated for drug crimes. Of those sentenced for these drug related crimes, nearly 58 percent were black or hispanic; however, these two groups make up only around 30 percent of the total population of the United States. Overly harsh consequences of drug convictions have helped lead to a 500 percent growth of the current incarcerated population over the past 40 years. This mass incarceration costs the average American about $260 per year on corrections, resulting in the country's annual $80 billion price tag. This so called "War on Drugs" is not how the American justice system should be handling cases of drug crimes. As said by Quigley: “We must never confuse law and

In the late 1960’s early 70’s President Nixon found himself faced with high crime, the expensive, highly unpopular Vietnam War, and immense poverty in inner cities. The Nixon administration saw these things and found that a commonality with them was drugs. So, on June 17, 1971, President Nixon gave a Special Message to the Congress on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control. In the address, Nixon Stated:

When Richard Nixon was elected as president of the United States in 1968, he entered office with high hopes for his term. America was in the midst of a war in Vietnam, and Nixon believed that because of his extensive knowledge of worldwide affairs, he could be the president to bring about positive change and peace in this area. Although Nixon desired to obtain “peace with honor,” his approach to the war in Vietnam and the actions that he took ultimately led to a defeat for the United States and left many devastating legacies.

Oftentimes, a deciding factor for a president’s reputation is his involvement in foreign affairs. Though Richard Nixon’s terms have been deservedly cast into a bad light, historians still quarrel about his international policy. Interestingly enough, the very traits which made him so despised as a public officer—his paranoia, lying, backstabbing, distrust, opacity, etc.—these traits made him an fascinating figure on the global stage. Instituting a policy coined “détente,” he sought separate peaces with the Soviet Union and China so as to subversively convert these communist foes into allies. He also wished to bring “peace with honor” to the Vietnam War through a practice nicknamed “Vietnamization.” To accomplish these two tasks, Nixon consolidated them under a single goal: the reduction of military spending. To accomplish that goal, President Richard Nixon relied on the dirty tactics he knew best and almost succeeded. The problem? His dirty tactics got in the way.

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.

Every year in America we spend billions of taxpayer dollars to fight the war on drugs. With such a massive budget one would assume that the drug trade would be at the lowest point in history. After all, we are spending more than ever before. Unfortunately the opposite is actually true. The drug trade in America simply continues to rise. The problem is that we are not fighting the war on drugs the right way. We have created laws that do not help the drug users with their addiction, in fact many actually make it more difficult for the drug addicts to start a new life. When a drug user is arrested he or she is often sentenced to prison which in theory would give them time to overcome their addiction. Unfortunately however, while in prison they are surrounded by other drug users, and other more violent criminals. Which influences them to believe that there is nothing wrong with using illegal drugs, many even believe that using drugs is cool. What we need to be doing, is spend a portion of the money that we use to keep them in prison, and divert it to getting proper rehabilitation treatment. If we plan on lowering the drug abuse in America, we will have to dramatically change the way we go about fighting the war on drugs.

Since the 1960s, State and federal law enforcement have become more focused into putting an end to drug use. Each year, crimes related to drug use has increased, making the government spend tens of billions of dollars arresting, convicting, and jailing drug users. Because of this ongoing problem, the government can’t help but to wonder “will this ever end?” and “Should we stop fighting?” With these questions being raised about a problem so conflicted, The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch have different views and opinions regarding the Drug War’s Standpoint.

The war on drugs was officially declared on June 1971 by President Nixon, when he dramatically increased the presence of federal drug control agencies, and pushed through measures such as mandatory sentencing and no-knock warrants. Many believe it is the number one issue in the United States today. The cost of this war has been lives, money, and the respect for law enforcement. The war on drugs has had little to no positive effects, while the decriminalization of drugs has many benefits. Citizens should inform themselves of everything our country could benefit from by simply decriminalizing what has been the cause of close to most incarcerations in federal and state prisons. There is no doubt that the war on drugs has a severe impact on the economy of our country. Drug criminalization is a multi-edged sword; the monetary costs, the loss of those who are lawfully employed in the labor market, and the deterioration of the relationships between the community and law enforcement.

The so-called “War on Drugs,” as declared by the Nixon administration in the signing of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, marked the beginning of the current era of mandatory minimum sentencing, racism, privatized prisons, and a powerful constituency that profits as a result of the prohibition of drugs. Psychoactive substances have been apart of the human experience as long as humans have walked the earth. There is little hope that drug production will ever be curtailed, so long as there is a demand; a demand that has remained steady even though it has been forty years since the beginning of said war. As Judge James P. Gray from the Superior Court of Orange County has so plainly put it: “Where did this policy

For a start, Dan Baum talks about in his book, “Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and The Politics of Failure”, on how the War on Drugs is ineffective with many variables. Buam claims that the War on Drugs costs the administration more than the Commerce, Interior, and State departments joined. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, in over the past four decades, both federal and state governments have poured over $1 trillion the drug war and relied on taxpayers to foot the bill. In addition, The United States had roughly around 50,000 people behind bars for drug law violations. Currently, that number had multiplied ten times to half a million. Either way, drug war advocates