Should The United States End 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.

Robert Garcia moved to Laredo before drug trafficking was rampant, and joined the Laredo PD. He worked with drug enforcement, and enjoyed the “local impact” (13). He ended up working with the DEA for six years, travelling the country in order to fight the war on drugs. Ultimately, he decided to return to Laredo, and worked in the homicide department. Through these two narratives, Slater explores the complexities of the “war on drugs” and how, ultimately, drug enforcement at the border does little to curb the crossing of drugs over the border.

The drug war is an all out war between drug cartels, and the governments of the usa and mexico. It has been going for more than 40 year, but it has been a things since the nineteenth century since drug was trafficked from one place to another. In the 1960s drug was a common thing in usa whether legal or not it was a for form symbol for many from rebellion toward the government, social upheaval and even political dissent until the 1971s when it became a bit harder to obtain the drug because of the many laws that came when nixon became president.

For almost 40 years now the longest and most unsuccessful war in the United States has been the war on drugs. Resulting in 45million arrests and $1 trillion dollars in government spending, the war on drugs has been nothing more than a way of income for public officers and other law enforcement officials. The effort behind the war on drugs is solemnly to reduce illegal drug use and trade. This plan includes a set of drug policies that are intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of these popular and wide spread narcotics.

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 the past forty years, the United States has spent over $2.5 trillion dollars funding enforcement and prevention in the fight against drug use in America (Suddath). Despite the efforts made towards cracking down on drug smugglers, growers, and suppliers, statistics show that addiction rates have remained unchanged and the number of people using illegal drugs is increasing daily (Sledge). Regardless of attempts to stem the supply of drugs, the measure and quality of drugs goes up while the price goes down (Koebler). Now with the world’s highest incarceration rates and greatest illegal drug consumption (Sledge), the United States proves that the “war on drugs” is a war that is not being won.

The drug war is an all out war between drug cartels the usa and mexico it has been going for more than 40 year, but it has been a things since the nineteenth century since drug was trafficked from one place to another. In the 1960s drug was a common thing in usa whether legal or not it was a for form symbol for many from rebellion toward the government, social upheaval and even political dissent until the 1971s when it became a bit harder to obtain the drug because of the many laws that came when nixon became president.

Before we begin our tour of the drug war, it is worthwhile to get a couple of myths out of the way. The first is that the war is aimed at ridding the nation of drug "kingpins" or big-time dealers. Nothing could be further from the truth. The vast majority of those arrested are not charged with serious offenses. In 2005, for example, four out of five drug arrests were for possession, and only one out of five was for sales. Moreover, most people in state prison for drug offenses have no history of violence or significant selling activity.5

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 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.

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.

The prohibition of drugs fails to create the greatest maximum amount of happiness for the greatest number of individuals. Many issues arise with the prohibition of drugs such as, black markets, and unnecessary imprisonments. Black Markets create a rise in crime because buyers, and sellers can’t solve their disputes in court, or with lawyers. The buyer, or seller then turns to violence to solve their disputes. Milton Friedman paper Its “Time to End the War on Drugs” mentions that informants are required for drug crimes, because neither the buyer or seller will be willing to, or have the “incentive to report a violation of the law”. He also mentions in the paper that the use of informants is costly, and the chance of corruption rises. Informants,

The War on Drugs has been a common phrase in the United States for many decades. What exactly does this mean and how does it shape U.S. foreign policy? The War on Drugs can be defined as the systematic and aggressive policy that is determined to undermine and stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. This policy is backed by several U.S. institutions including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Customs. Also, included in this list are the numerous local law enforcement agencies across the country.

The United States have used millions of dollars to fund many drug raids that have helped catch many dealers in the action of selling drugs, many officers are spending hours sitting outside these drug houses and staking them out, waiting for the perfect time to make their move. Police officers are finding thousands of dollars worth in drugs during these raids, one in particular that police found four million dollars worth in Heroin, and left ten people behind bars (2016 June 7). If it were not for these raids then the drug problem might be a lot worse thang what it already is. The border patrol have worked long hours to stop illegal narcotics from entering into the country, whether it be by finding the underground tunnels, tracking down the trucks smuggling drugs in, or by even catching the hikers that are attempting to smuggle drugs in their bags. The officers that are guarding the border have obtained 1.4 millions pounds of drugs in a year, by finding this amount of drugs they are keeping them away from dealers which will lessen the number of drug addicts (H 2009). Many organizations are being funded to help better inform people of all ages of the effects that drugs are having on the body, an organization that is helping users everyday is rehab, this is put into place to try to keep addicts off the streets and out of jail. DARE has been created to help kids of the