The Effects of the War on Drugs Essay

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.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs. This war was commenced to repel the wave of drugs rushing throughout the world. The U.S. has taken plenty of measures to fight back against drugs; whether it’s criminalizing the use of these drugs, hunting those who sell them, or making anti-drug propaganda to sway citizens and users away from them, not all of it has been beneficial to the world. Some of the tactics used have wasted money, imprisoned innocent people, and has gotten people killed. The war on drugs has been taken too far and needs to end before more lives in the world are ruined.

The war on drugs is a movement that had started in the 1970s and is still evolving from today. Over the years, people have had mixed reactions to the campaign, ranging from full-on support to claims that it has racist and political objectives. People who are affected by drugs are the people you use them and have gotten addicted to the substances that they started using for medical or recreational purposes. The war on drugs has many challenges attached to it but there are five possible solutions that can hopefully end the war on drugs.

According to Kristof (2009), the legalization of drugs is another solution to drug trafficking. With drugs more readily available, at lower prices and higher levels of potency many law enforcement personal and politicians favor legalization of drugs. While other experts favor keeping drug production and sell illegal, but decriminalizing possession. Either way if it is legalize it must be regulated. According to Kristof (2009), the United States have inquired three consequences due to the failure of “The War on Drugs”, increased population in jails, empowered criminals and terrorists, and squandered resources that cannot be replaced. With that said, why continue down a road were the drug problem is not getting resolved. Before drugs were prohibited, usage levels were lower among cocaine and heroin users, and states with legalized marijuana have not seen an increase in consumption, according to Kristof

Among highly developed nations, the United States is known for its stringent illegal drug use policy and the high percentages of its population that have consumed illegal substances. The United States has issued a drug war against millions of Americans who use and sell illegal substances. This war has cost taxpayers billions annually and continues to contribute to an incarceration rate that surpasses any other country (Walmsley 2009). Although, stringent policies have lowered the decline in U.S drug consumption since the 1970’s, the war on drugs in the United States has not succeeded in changing America from being the world leaders in use rates for illegal drugs.

Today’s world is changing at a rapid pace. Things never thought to be possible are becoming very real. One of the popular subjects of wanting change is the legalization of drugs. There has already been a small amount of change in the drug legalization process with marijuana now being legal in a few of the states. Vanessa Baird in her work “Legalize Drugs- all of them!” argues for the legalization and decriminalization of drugs. John P. Walters counters Baird’s argument for legalization in his piece “Don’t Legalize Drugs.” Both authors take an extended look into the harsh reality of the drug war and the small progress it has made since it began.

Throughout U.S governmental history, policies have been known to affect the way of life and every aspect. The topic it choose to research is about “The War on Drugs”, the impact policies have on society and if it does help the public or tend to extent social inequality. This topic is very important to me in the sense that, I look at the community I live and see how drugs have affected people lifes, broken up families and also destroyed the community itself. I wanted to know if the “war on drugs” stop our neighborhood from being flooded with drugs or it just over shadow the real problems that needs to be tackled.

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, 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.

Some of the arguments for legalizing the sale and possession of drugs have been made on purely economic grounds. Staggeringly large sums of money are being generated through the illegal drug trade. All of this money escapes direct taxation. If an excise tax, like those placed on alcohol and cigarettes, billions of dollars would become available for public projects. The U.S. department of Health and Human Services’ agency SAMHSA, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health

Drug legalization in my opinion will provide positive outcomes; because drug prohibition has cause harm to the country; other countries such as Portugal and the Netherlands have already legalized drugs and have been doing well with drug legalization. Drug legalization will minimize HIV from spreading throughout the country. The United States has been against legalizing drugs for many years; and no positive outcome has occurred. In the other hand, drug lords have been getting more rich and powerful due to the black market for illegal drugs. The U.S. can benefit financially from legalizing drugs also, it can minimize crime because, drugs will no longer be control by the black market.

Drugs influence physical and psychical health, it destroys human from inside. Drugs disorganize brain , heart, liver, intestine work. And almost all of these disorders are irreversible. If drugs would be legalised, some people would buy it instead of usual anaesthetics even though it would make more harm than benefit. Death statistic of drug abuse is horrifying. About 30% of drug addicts die. And this percentage would increase if drugs would be legalised. Also, usage of drugs is a cause of many diseases, like AIDS, hepatitis, cancer, mental trouble.

A multibillion dollar industry, with a consumer population of about 125 to 203 million people; the drug industry affects lives of all racial, ethnic, economic , social background, including participants in the drug industry, addicts, teenagers, parents, families, and officers of the law. Many people have encountered an experience with drugs and or drug education; the shared experience regarding the discussion of this topic or illegal experience brings importance to this current issue and validates the proposal for change. How much change, what change and how long will the change take place. Although this issue has many perspectives and opinions on how the war on drugs could be “won”, I will focus on two perspectives: drug criminalization and drug legalization. In a Human Rights lens, I will discuss the limitations and strengths of both methods. In the opinion of some and with hindsight the status quo regarding drugs requires reform in order to reverse the unintended consequences of drug prohibition. In the opinion of others criminalizing participants in the drug trade should be penalized under the law.

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

Believe it or not if the government where to legalize drugs, the amount of money they would save is tremendous. In fact pot legalization could save the United States $13.7 billion per year- according to 300 economists on huffpost.com. The United States spends about 40 billion dollars on enforcing drug prohibition per year. Money spent on law enforcement. Violence that deals with drug trade, decreases economic development and keeps millions in poverty. Nobel Prize winning economist Gary Becker speculates that drug prohibition increases addiction because it makes users reluctant to seek out treatment- according to Quartz Media. As research shows a lot of people are all for the legalization due to the increase of money the government would be savings and receiving, money that could be going to states. As we all know prohibition was set into place during the 20th century because woman felt as if men were getting out of control, spending all of their money on