Ronald Reagan War On Drugs

The drug war has caused many problem problem in many countries especially in mexico where the heat of the problem has come to be from raging war between the government of mexico and drug cartels, from many cities not being safe because of the constant violence throughout the country to economic disruption and more. More than 164,000 people had died between 2007 and 2014 because of the drug war in mexico, more than the iraq and afghanistan war zones combine.

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 January 2004, senatorial candidate Barack Obama firmly opposed the twenty two-year war on drugs, saying that the United States’ approach in the drug war has been ineffective (Debussman).  Although the term, “war on drugs,” was originally coined by President Richard Nixon in 1971, it wasn’t until Ronald Reagan announced that “drugs were menacing society” that it became a major policy goal to stop widespread use. Following Reagan’s promises to fight for drug-free schools and workplaces, the United States boosted its efforts in its most recent declaration

Ronald Reagan was not only a master of foreign policy, but was also skillful with his domestic policy as well, such as his handling of illegal drug use within the United States. Reagan began his administration’s “war on drugs” in October 1982 (Glass). On that date he declared that illegal drugs and their production and transportation were hurting America (Glass). From then on, he made it clear that his administration would act against illegal drugs, and would do what it could to stop their influence. Congress, Reagan’s Vice President George H.W. Bush, and even his wife all put forth great contributions to the fight against illegal drugs. Ronald Reagan began to take action of his own in September 1986 when he helped to put forth and effectively pass Executive Order 12564 (Drug-Free Federal Workplace). The order was intended to create a drug-free work environment for every worker in America, and made it the law to not use drugs while at a workplace (Drug-Free Federal Workplace). Also, he signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 into law (Anti-Drug Abuse Act). The Anti-Drug Abuse Act created different types of minor and major penalties for drug offenses, and also created the

The term “War on Drugs” was first coined by President Richard Nixon, but it was not actually carried out until President Ronald Reagan

Since Nixon and Reagan started the war on drugs the United States have struggled to keep a drug policy that would actually keep people from using drugs. The war on drugs was something that change the history of this country, by making drug trafficking their main priority. This is becoming a big issue since this issue is something that many Americans do everyday. During the time in 1971, President Richard Nixon was the man that created the Drug Enforcement Agency. This was the program called the war in drugs. This was supposed to keep narcotics out within our country and our borders. During 1994, the war on drugs caused people to go to jail, especially the non violent drug users. Criminalization is overcrowding the prisons by putting people

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 current policy in use by the United States concerning illegal drugs is both outdated and unfair. This so-called war on drugs is a deeply rooted campaign of prohibition and unfair sentencing that is very controversial and has been debated for many years. The war on drugs is designed so that it will never end. This current drug was has very little impact on the overall supply of prohibited drugs and its impact on demand seems non-existent. United States’ taxpayers are spending billions of dollars on this failure of policy. They are spending billions to incarcerate drug users instead offering drug treatment which could help lower demand. Legalizing illicit would lower abuse and deaths from use and could have a positive economic impact on the United States. Certain industries are making massive sums of money by capitalizing on the drug war.

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.

While laws prohibiting the use of drugs, in one form or another, can be traced back to the 1870s, it was not until 1968, when Richard M. Nixon was elected President, that our current drug war was conceived. In 1970 Congress passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act.(2) With an

The 1970s were times of crisis regarding the heroin epidemic and was when the nation truly started to “declare war” to stop drug use. The “War on Drugs” was interpreted differently by government and the rest of society. Government emphasized in punishment and enforced harsh drug laws in hope to deter drug users. For instance, in 1973 Nelson Rockefeller proposed the harshest drug laws in the nation which included having more police, more prisons, and longer sentences. The other aspect on the war on drugs were the arguments made by people like Kurt Schmoke. He argued for rehabilitation and that the punishment of drug users instead of is “wasting millions of dollars and wasting lives.” He fought for the imprisoned individuals and for government

Drugs’) has attempted to achieve a ‘drug-free world’. Today, it is painfully clear that this goal has

The War on Drugs is the campaign to end the illicit consumption and distribution of drugs in the United States. Initially conceived by the Nixon Administration during the 1970s, the War on Drugs operates on the philosophy that increased enforcement and harsher punishments will deter individuals from committing drug offenses. While the motives behind the initiative to end what Nixon declared to be “public enemy number one” may have been good, the effects of the War on Drugs have been disastrous to American society. Harsher drug policies unjustly target racial minorities, and the increased incarceration rate for nonviolent offenses only fuels the development of a corrupt prison industrial complex. Additionally, the enforcement of drug prohibition is incredibly expensive for the American taxpayer. Ending the War on Drugs not only reaps numerous benefits for the American economy, but also provides opportunities to better regulate drug use and prevent addiction with education.

The war on drug has a history that starts in the early 20th century the Harrison act passed Congress make substance such as heroin and cocaine illegal. In 1937 marijuana began to be scrutinized and eventually made illegal by the federal government. Over the decades there have been many stances on this issue. Drug use was never really a major problem until 1960 were drug use increasing and became more tolerable in social situations such as concerts, parties, and other various areas. Then in the 1970’s the drug use was at an all-time him and many conserved citizens wanted the government to take lead on this issue by ending it. President Nixon was elected with restoring law and order as his platform. He took a very strong stance against illegal drug use. Millions of federal dollars were allocated to fight against drugs. The War on Drug still being fought today but it has ceased to decrease drug use or the crimes associated with it. (Nielsen, 461)