The War on Drugs and U.S. Foreign Policy Essay

Through my research I have found our involvement in the drug world follows the same theme that seems to recur with our government and their policies. We talk a good game that formulates a structure and a well-worded policy that appears to be in the best interest of American citizens and foreigners alike. However we also aid these countries. The problem doesn’t lie within our policies or the simple compassion from our government that drugs hurt our society. The problems occur with those that implement and enforce these policies. Cocaine and its market cannot be eradicated. The efforts of many of our political leaders have been futile because of the supply and demand of the product. In 1989, President Bush had a plan that he called, “The cheapest and safest way to eradicate narcotics” (Menzel pg.43). The result was the following,

In 1968, President Richard Nixon declared a “war on drugs”. This was in response to the health and law enforcement concerns that emerged in society from the exploitation of drugs. Nixon opted to cease the war on drugs, by developing policies that would slow both the supply and demand of drugs. In the 1980’s, Columbia became the United States prime focus due to their emergence of cocaine across the United States border which later leads to affect other Latin American countries. Today, the war continues despite the political advancements that both the U.S and Columbia have made.

He also describes how the United States views as a voice and forceful supports of prohibitionist drug controls in international policymaking. In addition, in the United States the discussion on surrounding drug control policy is one of the most extremely disputed matters of our current eras. The author mentions in the article how the strictly enforced US prohibitionist drug was unable to control the Narcotic drugs which happened to create many negative and harmful consequences for the people in the world. The negative consequences that were created when they failed to control the narcotic drugs happened to increase the violence, government dishonesty, and public seizure; therefore, these consequences to the economy growing are very harmful and dangerous. Narcotic drugs have long preserved, which has impacted many people lives in the world. A main purpose of this article is about the unaffordable drug control normally employed by the United States. The United States has spent way too much money abroad and local just thinking that they will be able to decrease the level of illegal drugs; however, they happened to fail at

The term “War on drugs” was first announced when President Richard Nixon created a volume of programs intended to suppress the consumption of certain recreational drugs in 1972. It marked the beginning for the era of mandatory minimum sentencing, privatized prisons, racism, and constituency that profits as a result of the illegal drugs. The “Just Say No” and the D.A.R.E. campaign were created to help youths from starting to use drugs but they were not effective. Treatment programs have directed their attention to current drug user and to stop future drug users. The war on drugs war that is being fought our backyards every day. This is a war that cannot be won by military arms or peace treaties but we must uphold those responsible that our

The War on Drugs attempts to solve the supply side of narcotics with crude and unnecessary punishments for a demand side issue. The United States fails to realize that Mexico is not the problem,

The United States defiantly needs to do more to prevent imported drugs into the country. More emphasis results in less drug use by consumers. Although it may not completely stop drug use. It will reduce the number of people gaining access nonetheless. An argument for this issue is that the more the force the United States places on drug

Despite the great investments in the War on Drugs, such efforts can be seen to be causing more harm than good. These attempts have further failed to meet its objectives, given that the drug menace continues to persist. The efforts are characterized by federal and local law enforcement agencies constantly engaged in implementation activities such as cracking down on traffickers, dealers and users of the drugs, in the endeavor to stem the movement of the narcotics.

The War on Drugs had its official start during the Nixon administration when the president declared that drug abuse was now “public enemy number one.” Since then, over one trillion dollars have been spent on various programs to combat drug abuse. Ultimately, however, the War on Drugs did not limit national daily drug use. Instead, the War on Drugs had a greater impact on the United States’ justice, education, and healthcare systems than it did to limit citizen drug use.

ericas war with drugs, is an issue that for nearly a century has caused great controversy and has yet reached a resolution among the American society to this day. The never-ending mission to seize the narcotics and the narcs that produce and distribute the substances is everlasting and very costly. In 1971, the term “Americas war with drugs” is used by the United States government in their campaign of prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the stated aim being to reduce the illegal drug trade. This initiative includes a set of drug policies that are intended to, discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of psychoactive drugs that the participating governments and the UN have made illegal. Times have changed

The American War on Drugs has aimed to abolish drug abuse through tough laws and punitive enforcement within and beyond United States’ borders. Although the term was only coined in 1971, it seems as though the War on Drugs is failing more miserably than ever before. Global consumption of opiates, cocaine, and marijuana has increased by 35 percent, 27 percent, and 9 percent between 1998 and 2008, according to the United Nations. This suggests that the global supply of illegal drugs is increasing while the drugs themselves become cheaper, fixed, and abundant. (Schlosser, 1994)

Between 1981 and 1996 the U.S. Government has spent more than $80 billion fighting the "drug war". Government agents continuously patrol our southern border, from Florida to California, in an effort to ward off large scale drug smuggling. Thus far, their efforts appear futile (Bayer 33).

According to Sanho Tree, director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., “The American war on drugs is not only failing, it's actually perpetuating drug trafficking, profiteering and drug use all over the world.” The more we fight this war, the cheaper the drugs become, the more available they are and the higher the purity. One doesn't need to resort to conspiracy theory to know why this war is failing. It is time the administration faces the problem first hand. The United States is too focused on the Middle East and the war for oil to have spent too much time and energy on the War on Drugs, which inevitably evolved into the War on Terrorism. The government is continually shelling out more money to support the war on drugs, but this was is not one that can be purchased. With an annual budget of twenty billion dollars, we cannot afford to give more money to this war, particularly when it is not helping. This is a war that needs time and energy devoted to brainstorming so that we can develop a new way of dealing with the War on Drugs, a way that works.

The global policy on drugs has one main concern, as maintained in the first clause of the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs: promoting the health and welfare of mankind (United Nations, 1961). The convention and global drug policy actors have asserted through the years that drugs pose a threat to this concern, and so an integrated effort to reduce supply, demand and trafficking of said narcotics is the desired course of action (High Level segment Commission on Narcotic Drugs, 2009). It seems that this course of action became an end of itself instead of a mean to an end of health and welfare, as mounting evidence shows that the actions taken to achieve this have not only been ineffective in reducing supply, demand and trafficking; they have also created severe violations of human rights, alongside criminalization, a hazard to public health, and drug cartels which pose a very real threat to peace and security.

Failure is a compromising and alarming idea. When thinking about the drug control policy of the past half-century, failure is the only conclusion that one can come to. A dated history of combatting drug abuse with punitive measures has not led to the annihilation of illicit drug use. It has not created safer societies. It has led to the stigmatization and isolation of a substantial proportion of society and stimulated drug crimes. Now it is time to look back and address the negative consequences of past drug control strategies. It is time to reform the strategies of fighting illicit drug use. The National Drug Control Strategy, the Global Commission on Drug Policy, and the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy all advocate for

The answer is quite simple: the international war on drugs has been all but successful. Regardless how overwhelming the combative forces against illegal drug trade may be, the combination of a non-authoritative state with powerful and wealthy organized crime syndicates result in overall weak state efficacy. This rise in drug trafficking, along with an increase in local drug production and consumption, is a major challenge in the pursuit of peace, stability and security.