The Apocalypse Now : The Lost War On Drugs

Over the past few decades, America has developed an obsession with incarceration. Since the early 70s, crime rates have remained stable, but as of 2006 the rate of incarceration has increased nearly 500% (Hallett 2006) and has only continued to increase since. Anti- crime rhetoric has led to more public fear than ever “even though the crime rates suggest that public safety has improved over the years” (Patten 2017) This increase in arrests is fueled mainly by “the war on drugs” and strict control of immigration. The war on drugs (Coined by Richard Nixon and spearheaded by Ronald Reagan) (Patten 2017) causes thousands of arrests each year, and targets minority communities (African Americans get arrested 8 times more frequently than white offenders for drug crimes). While anti-immigration laws target mainly Mexican

President Nixon first declared the “war on drugs” on June of 1971. This came after heavy drug use during the 1960s. New York in particular, had a rise in heroin use. After Nixon’s declaration, states began decriminalizing the possession and distribution of marijuana and other drugs. Many small drug offences led to a mandatory fifteen years to life. This Drug War has led to an increase of incarceration rates since. One of the earliest laws that followed Nixon’s announcement were the Rockefeller Drug Laws that to not only failed to deter crime but also lead to other problems in the criminal justice system. With the Rockefeller Drug Laws came heavy racial disparity of those incarcerated for drug related crimes. Although the Obama Administration has begun reforms, the new President Elect Trump’s views may bring all the efforts back down.

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.

Throughout the 1970s there’s been a large influx of drugs, and violence as a result of drugs. During this same time period African Americans were experiencing new levels of equality they hadn’t felt since the Reconstruction Period began, which dashed their hopes after the Civil War ended. They were still experiencing discrimination in employment. The combination of unemployment and drugs was a contributor to the crime rate. Drugs and alcohol overwhelmingly effected the Black Community Unfortunately, at the time, former President Richard Nixon declared War on Drugs, the governmental approach for addressing the harmful effects of drugs on society was to create an atmosphere that unjustly targeted poor blacks and other ethnic minorities in the

This paper will discuss the topic of The War on Drugs in America and the harsh realities of what was occurring during the Nixon and Reagan era. It will take a look at past history and the origins of when this drug epidemic became such a hazard in America’s roots. It was first declared in 1971 by President Richard Nixon due to his strong belief that drug abuse was “public enemy number one.” With that, he installed widespread fear amongst citizens as well as creating several alternative means that sought to eliminate the problem. Then throughout President Ronald Reagan’s term, he refocused the nation’s attention back to the issue which led to a significant increase in incarcerations for nonviolent drug crimes. These were times where individuals slipped away from the norm and began experimenting in different areas such as opposition towards the government and social conformity in diverse groups. This then lead to the greater issue of The War on Drugs becoming a war on the people because of its effects on minority groups. The social justice sought by many was to end the racial discrimination placed by higher powers on these groups of people in means to gain political wealth.

In 1971 Nixon declared his “War on Drugs”, stating that drugs are “America’s public enemy number one.” Although drugs were illegal long before Nixon, his war on drugs was the beginning of the Unites State’s drug policy as it exists today. In 1973, Nixon went on to create the Drug Enforcement Agency, otherwise known as the DEA, in order to rage “an all-out global war on the drug menace” (Suddath, “Brief History: The War on Drugs.”). This set the stage for what is now nearly 45 years of this “war” in an attempt to stop both the use of drugs and the harms they cause to the country. As such, the aim of this policy, as with most political policies, was to improve the United States, and create a

President Richard Nixon initiated the War on Drugs in 1971. At that time, America was leaving a tumultuous decade where young americans challenged the status quo, leading social movements that effected the very fabric of our country. Nixon, a strict conservative, was not a fan of these people disrupting the system and went after them. Tom LoBianco, reporter for CNN Politics, quotes former domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman who stated “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people.” Unfortunately, this was not the first time drug laws were used to discriminate certain groups of people, especially minorities. Drug consumption has been around since humans discovered mind altering

This “war on drugs,” initiated by Nixon, has been embraced by all presidents since and focuses on goals of incapacitation, retribution, and deterrence. In the 1970’s, more money was allocated to criminal justice, more strict laws were passed, more prisons were built, and more arrests were made. All of which pertaining to drug law enforcement (Anon, 2016). The implementation of the “war on drugs”, also brought about mandatory minimum sentences. These sentences invoke a specific minimum amount of time required to be served for each crime of which the defendant is convicted. This practice takes discretion away from judges and shifts responsibility to the prosecutors to decide with what to charge the defendant (Anon, 2016). These mandatory minimums also do not allow for the whole picture of the crime to be considered when deciding a verdict. The idea of

The war on drugs has clearly failed, hard drugs are now more potent and easier to buy than ever before. The truth, is crimes rates do not explain the sudden and dramatic mass incarnation in the past 30 years. Drugs offenders alone account for about two-third of the increase in the federal inmate population and more than half of the increase in the state prison population. Michelle notes:

Much can be said about the increase of incarceration in the United States. Many attribute the massive increase over the course of four decades, is due to the war on Drugs and the three strikes polices of most states. The war on drugs was first started in 1971 by then president Richard Nixon. “The presidency of Ronald Reagan marked the start of a long period of skyrocketing rates of incarceration, largely thanks to his unprecedented expansion of the drug war. The number of people behind bars for nonviolent drug law offenses increased from 50,000 in 1980 to over 400,000 by 1997.” (drugpolicy.org, 2014) Before, the War on drugs, there was a gradual increase to those being incarcerated. But nothing compared to the skyrocketing trend after 1971. Between 1971 to current day, has become the largest increase of those incarcerated in

The launching of the 1960’s brought with it a public health issue concerning the use and abuse of illegal drugs. Responding to the crisis, the US department of Justice established the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous drugs, which was designed to control illegal drugs, specifically marijuana. Building on the prohibition, in 1971 President Richard Nixon officially declared a “war on drugs”, which resulted in an increased federal role in the warfare by providing the federal government with power to institute new mandatory sentencing laws. New policies, including the passing of the Controlled Substances act, which, “superseded earlier legislation and classified cannabis as having a high potential for abuse, having zero medical use, and being unsafe for use without medical supervision,” (Barry, 2014) produced a dramatic rise in national incarceration rates, disproportionally representing those people of color. In fact, according to the FBI, in 2011 there were 750,000 marijuana arrests (the vast for majority) alone.

In 1968, “President Nixon administration declared “war on drugs”, it was implemented to help the possession of drugs off the streets, cracking down on drug distribution” (Moore & Elkavich, 2008). Who is affected by the “war on drugs”, according to Moore & Elkavich (2008), “Blacks and Whites (7.4% and 7.2%, respectively) and lower for Latinos (6.4%), the number of White drug users is vastly greater than that of drug users of color because White people are a larger share of the population”. Statistics from The Drug War, Mass Incarceration and Race (2016) indicate, “1.5 million drug arrests in the U.S. in 2014 and more than 80% were for drug possession only”. The report additionally stated that “5 More than 50 percent of people in federal prisons are incarcerated for drug law violations” (The Drug War, Mass Incarceration and Race, 2016). Based on this report, this operation evidently did what it was proposed to do, yet having an adverse effect on prison overcrowding. Having said before about the high of recidivism, detainees investing more time in prison can profoundly affect their future, particularly youthful adults.

In From Slavery to Prisons, Deborah Burris-Kitchen and Paul Burris claim that “Nixon‘s War on Drugs was an all--out attempt to completely destroy and incarcerate the entire Black race. Nixon linked crime and drugs to the corrosive nature of rebellion in urban centers” (12). The policies involved in the war directly target poor and urban communities, so police focused on these areas expecting and waiting for drug deals or suspicious activity. This expectation of criminal activity from black communities is pure criminalization and the flood of African Americans into the prison system sparked even more problems. In 13th, historians discuss how police sweeped through urban areas with high poverty rates and arrested men because police assumed they had drugs before they even had evidence. With many men of households in prison for dealing or possession, families had to fend for themselves which sparked in a large amount of crime in black youth, perpetrating the problems the war on drug claimed to be against showing that the advertised intentions of the war on drugs are not the true intentions. The war on drugs was declared by President Nixon, but the harsh policies and attitudes were perpetrated by Reagan, both manipulated the war on drugs to be a war on black

“The war on drugs” is an American phrase which is usually applied to an operation of military intervention, prohibition of drugs and military aid, with the stated target of abbreviating the illegal drug trade. The massive amount of growth of prisoners from that time has highly contributed to the prison overflow that the US has become accustomed to today. In the United Sates, prisons contain more individuals than any other country in the world mostly because the war on drugs. Harsh punishments and misguided drug legislations specifications have resulted in great unfair consequences for those of colour. Even though rates of drug usage are parallel amongst ethnic and racial lines, people of Latino or black origin have a considerably higher chance of being criminalized. The drug war leads the way in mass incarceration and racial differences in the U.S. legal

There also another war drugs in which law enforcement officials battle between egoistic hedonism and noble-cause corruption (Williams & Arrigo, 2012). It was President Ronald Reagan who signed the Federal Anti-Drug Abuse Act in 1986, which targeted crack cocaine over powder cocaine that was commonly used in the poor black urban communities. The regulation introduced an extreme sentencing disparity for crack cocaine over powder cocaine, and also authorized more resources towards law enforcement. Today’s significant levels of racialized prison populations are due to the concentrated anti-drug initiatives that were launched in neighborhoods of color and along the U.S.-Mexico border. Since Reagan took office in 1980 to 1990’s, there has been an increase of eleven hundred percent (1,100%) or one-half million residents imprisoned for drug offenses. Most of the individuals who are being detained are for drug possession charges rather than drug dealing (Bender, 2013). From a personal perspective working in law enforcement for the past eleven years, the individuals advancing from the war on drugs is the traffickers and law enforcement. It is not the users of the persons who possess the drugs because they are the vast majority currently