The War On Drugs And Its Controversial Approaches

The American “War on Drugs” war created to keep an exorbitant amount of people behind bars, and in a subservient status. First, America has a storied history when it comes to marijuana use. However, within the last 50 years legislation pertaining to drug use and punishment has increased significantly. In the modern era, especially hard times have hit minority communities thanks to these drug laws. While being unfairly targeted by drug laws and law enforcement, minorities in America are having a difficult time trying to be productive members of society.

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.

Critics argue that the cost of putting low-ranking street corner drug dealers is disproportionate. A two-hundred dollar drug deal can turn into a big price tag for the tax payers. A report generated by the (North Carolina Department of Public Safety indicated that the cost of prison incarceration for a medium custody inmate is over thirty-thousand dollars per year. Further, the cost of substance abuse treatment conducted at a drug facility can be as high as twenty-two thousand dollars per year.

In the past 40 years, the American government has spent more than $2.5 trillion dollars on the war against drugs. The huge expenditure has been coupled by numerous the ad campaigns, clean-up on smuggling, and increase in illicit drug users and incarceration rates. Actually, the increase in illicit drug users currently stands at 19.9 million in the United States with huge supplies from Mexico. With the increase in both the expenditure and number of illegal drug users, there have been huge concerns regarding the country's war on drugs. The main question is why the United States can continue spending much money on this war while it can legalize and tax the supply of drugs. The most appropriate and effective measure for tackling the problem of drugs is through legalizing and collecting taxes than spending huge amounts in stopping the flow of the commodities to America.

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

As many African-Americans were rejoicing their long and strenuous journey, a new plan was afoot for them: the war on drugs. The war on drugs is unequivocally the biggest and most durable war this country has ever fought against its own citizens. Like any other wars the United-States has engaged in, the war on drugs is remarkably different; it was fought internally, and intended to target a specific group, people of color. Their communities, houses and churches were flooded with law enforcements, constantly checking for illegal possession of drugs. They were branded criminals and were continuously being thrown in jails or prisons, with harsh and lengthy sentences imposed on them. And once they were released, many are saddled with huge debts

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.

Beginning in the nineteenth century, spanning to the present day, US history has witnessed a plethora of changes both socially as well as racially. These racial and social changes were the results of moral panics centered around marijuana as well as eugenics.

On June 17th, 1971, President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse to be “America’s Public Enemy #1” in a press conference in which he called for an “all out offensive” against this enemy, an initiative that would later be known as America’s War on Drugs. By giving this speech, thus starting “The War on Drugs,” President Nixon created what would eventually become one of the most catastrophic failures in United States political history. Analysis of the historical events surrounding Nixon’s declaration reveal ulterior motives behind the initiative, providing context to the reasons for its failure, which were based short term in its moral failure, and long term in its failure of efficiency and results. The War on Drugs has lasted for generations and continues to be responsible for policies that criminalize non-violent drug offenders at the expense of taxpayers, contributing to a devastating mass incarceration dilemma in the United States that perpetuates a disproportionate marginalization of low-class, particularly African American citizens.

increased both the number and longevity of laws, that required longer sentences and mandatory minimum sentences.

The American Government has passed and encouraged legislation that intentionally criminalized and incarcerated black citizens. During the 1960’s, drugs became a symbol of rebellion against society and politics. The rising epidemic of drugs plagued the country which prompted President Nixon to launch the “War on Drugs” campaign. Nixon increased the presence and funding of federal drug control agencies and enforced mandatory minimum sentencing. However in 2016, one of Nixon’s former aides, Domestic Policy Chief John Ehrlichman, revealed the war on drugs targeted blacks and hippies. He stated "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people..we knew we couldn't make it illegal

It seems like every day I will turn on the news and I hear of one person after the other being thrown into prison, about our countries deficit or another scandal dealing with discrimination. And if I don’t hear it from the news I’m hearing it from friends and family or seeing it for myself. I can remember being told at the age of 10 that my favorite uncle, Tio Chico, was somewhere else and I might not see him for a long time. My ten-year-old self couldn’t understand why; I knew Tio Chico wasn’t a bad guy. He loved me so much and would protect his little mama, that’s me, from anything and anyone. It was later that I learned that he was getting into the wrong crowd and was starting to become involved with low level drugs. It was through some divine intervention that he only got probation, but his friends were not as lucky, they were served long jail sentences.

(CASA, 2008). On June 19, 1986 Len Bias, a top-notch NBA draft pick was found dead of a crack cocaine overdose. His death prompted media turmoil and it was not long before the authorities came to realize that cocaine was accessible to black people in the form of “crack cocaine.” In a matter of weeks, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986. As a result of the Act, mandatory minimum sentencing for precise amounts of cocaine was enacted. Simultaneously, law-makers established tougher sentences for crack cocaine but not for powder

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.

In 1971 President Richard Nixon declared a War on Drugs stating that drug abuse was “public enemy number one”. Four decades later America is still waging this war that many say can never truly be won. The goal of this campaign has always been the prohibition of drugs, military aid, and military intervention with the stated aim being to define and reduce the illegal drug trade however the tactics used thus far have done little to solve the problem of drugs in the United State. The use of military to combat this issue has resulted in billions of tax dollars with little results. Since 1970 the drug addiction rate has stayed consistent while the U.S. drug controlled spending has dramatically increased. Illegal drug trafficking thrives and violence escalates as this war against drugs wages on. The call to end the war on drugs has been made but can we really end something that should be treated like any other social issue?