The Rise Of Drug Prohibition

Drug decriminalization is opposed by the majority of Americans. Leaders in drug prevention, education, treatment, and law enforcement are against it, as are many political leaders. However, pro-drug advocacy groups, who support the use of drugs, are making headlines. They are influencing legislation and having a significant impact on the national policy debate in the United States. Although, pro-advocacy groups claim decriminalization of drugs will lower incarceration rates and boost the economy, drugs must stay illegal in America, if not, more people will use, causing negative effects on health, families and communities.

Throughout history, campaigns against certain parts of life are frequently argued upon. Wars are in a state of flux, but a constant in America's policies is the Drug War. The government attempts to prevent the consumption of illicit and harmful substances, even shown in modern domestic policies. Yet with much effort, positive results was not usually yielded. Apart from the outcomes, prohibition has made a large impact on daily life. In the United States, prohibition of alcohol and opium was a visible and controversial debate. The prohibition of alcohol and criminalization of opium were very different but still had some similarities such as the events that happened, its immediate reaction, and the lasting significance.

When, in 1971, Richard Nixon infamously declared a “war on drugs” it would have been nearly impossible for him to predict the collective sense of disapprobation which would come to accompany the now ubiquitous term. It would have been difficult for him to predict that the drug war would become a hot topic, a highly contentious and polarizing point of debate and, it would have difficult for him to predict that the United States would eventually become the prison capital of the world, incarcerating, proportionally, more people than anywhere in the world. Today, beyond being a popular political talking point, mass incarceration has become a veritable crisis. The United States now has over 2 million citizens languishing in prisons -- far and away in the most in the globe, and a nearly 68% recidivism rate. Most Americans are quick to blame the dire state of mass incarceration in the United States today on the punitive drug war policies instituted by the likes of Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon; however the reality is much more equivocal. Further analysis of mass incarceration - its causes and factors - in reality reveals a much less black and white situation: While these severe drug war policies played almost undoubtedly an integral role in creating the American system of mass incarceration, they are only a segment, emblematic of a larger systemic crisis of draconian, “tough-on-crime” penalties, which over the last forty years placed more Americans in prison than any other

The United States government has been wasting millions of dollars each year on a worthless war that cannot be won. This war is explained in detail by author Art Caden in their essay “Let’s Be Blunt” about the United State war on drugs. The war on drugs began in 1971 under the order of President Richard Nixon, and it was one of the worst decisions he ever made. It has been nothing but a waste of government funding, time, and manpower that can only be described as a dismal failure and should be repealed or at the very least medical marijuana should be made legal.

Tough on crime” and “war on drug” policies were created and put in place in the early

As a major policy issue in the United States, the War on Drugs has been one of the most monumental failures on modern record. At a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars, thousands of lives lost and many thousands of others ruined by untreated addiction or incarceration, America's policy orientation concerning drug laws is due for reconsideration. Indeed, the very philosophical orientation of the War on Drugs and of the current drug policy in the United States has been one of prosecution and imprisonment rather than one of decriminalization, treatment and rehabilitation. As our medical and scientific communities characterize addiction as a disease, the United States government continues to characterize this disease as a crime. And in doing so, it has created an unnecessary criminal class in the United States. The research, supplemental political cartoons and proposed research will set out to prove that stiffer drug laws will only have the impact of criminalizing countless drug addicts who might otherwise benefit substantially from rehabilitation and other treatment-based strategies. With a specific focus on the prohibition of marijuana even for medical use, and using the Toulmin model for putting forth and completing the argument, the research will set out to demonstrate the irrational

The prison system in the United States is broken. There are many reasons why it is broken, but the main source of the problem is from the privatization of prisons. The United States has a capitalistic economy, which means our society driven by acquiring capital. Every person’s goal is to make money and live the “American Dream”, including big corporations. Since privatizing markets like healthcare, television, and banking worked for their favor, companies realized that prisons could produce large sums of capital. The war on drugs solidified that belief. Since the start of Ronald Reagan 's “War on Drugs” in the 1970’s, prisons have been privatized and exploited for monetary gain. The public thinks that this so called “War on Drugs” is

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.

“It’s finding out where we came from that helps guide us to where we are going.” - Mona Rodriguez. This quote means that we should know where we came from and the mistakes that we made where we were from so we don’t make the same mistakes later in life. Prohibition made alcohol illegal, but the government band was not a success. This is one past example that the quote mentions that past mistakes should guide the future action. Although drugs should be illegal, it should only be used for medical purposes.

Drugs are certainly a cause of a lot of controversies here in the United States, but many problems with it are blown out of proportion, and it is clear from the evidence the legalization would be a net benefit for the country. By reducing immigration, improving public health, and even reducing addiction, drug legalization will clearly help the country. If you agree with the idea of drug legalization, or even decriminalization, call or write a letter/email to your representative at http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/.

The United States has focused its efforts on the criminalization of drug use. In June 1971, President Nixon declared a “war on drugs.” He dramatically increased the size and presence of federal drug control agencies, and pushed through measures such as mandatory sentencing and no-knock warrants. . The War on Drugs has been a centerpiece of American foreign and domestic policy. The rhetoric of war shaped the impact of methods. Not only does war require military strategies, but an enemy as well. In this case it was easy to construct African Americans and people of color as the enemy in the War on Drugs. These are the groups that the majority of white Americans have always viewed as the source of crime. President Reagan’s anti drug rhetoric was skillfully designed to tap into deeply held cultural attitudes about people of color and their links to drug use and many other illicit behaviors. While the professed enemies of the War on Drugs were drug cartels in drug source countries, the most affected were people of color in inner city neighborhoods, mainly African Americans. Thus, the social and economic mobility of Black Americans has suffered collateral damage from the War on Drugs and damages the upward mobility of the African American communities.

According to Michelle Alexander, why and how has the “war on drugs” developed over the last 40 years? What are the main political and economic factors that led to the war on drugs, and what are the main political and economic factors that shaped it as it developed over the last four decades? Draw on material from the Foner textbook chapters 25 through 28 to supplement Alexander’s discussion of the political and economic context.

One thing that must be made obvious is that the government makes money regardless of the results that they produce. A good majority of the criminal justice system is paid with this budgeted drug money. There has been a historical increase in judges, lawyers, police officers and the creation of entire government organizations that directly make money as a result of the prohibition. It is not only law enforcement side that would like to see prohibition remain intact; it is also the drug dealers that would like the policies to remain as they are. (Harvey) Prohibition causes the handling of drugs to become a risky business and, therefore, drives the prices up astronomically allowing for a business that has a profit in the thousands of percent with no tax. Ricky Ross, the most infamous crack-cocaine dealer in Los Angeles, while being interviewed in jail told the interviewer, “I became addicted to the money and also the power too I believe” (Booth). These people will have the opportunity to make extraordinary amounts of money so long as current prohibition stays intact. There is clearly something wrong if both the government and drug dealers would both like to see prohibition perpetuated.

“Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man 's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.” -Abraham Lincoln

“Alcohol didn’t cause the high crime rate of the ‘20s and ‘30s, prohibition did. And drugs do not cause today’s alarming crime rates, but drug prohibition does”( Badnarik). Although Congress had great intentions by banning alcohol and drugs, it made living in America that much more difficult. The passage of the 18th amendment contributed to the rise of illegal activities carried out by organized crime syndicates.