How To Write An Essay On The War On Drugs
The War on Drugs
The War on drugs has been one of the most controversial topics in the past twenty years. While the official “War on Drugs” started in 1968, I believe it started when prohibition began. Shortly after alcohol was made illegal, so was cannabis along with other drugs such as heroin once commonly sold in pharmacies. The Nixon administration decided to double down the efforts of law enforcement which was designed to “protect and serve” against the smuggling, sale, distribution and consumption. What followed this “war on drugs” was a massive court system, for profit jails and prisons, militarization of police and little has been done to decrease the amount of drugs consumed. Since 1972 the number of incarcerated people increased five fold, without a decrease in drug use or crime rate. Furthermore illicit drugs have become purer without an increase in price. (Moore et. al.) This mass incarceration of many non-violent offenders is seen as a statistic of proponents of the drug war as a success while many communities and families are in anguish over prejudiced policing and a system that constantly works against them. The consequences of imprisoning so many drug users is that by removing key parts of communities and families and then depositing them …show more content…
Not only do the policies in place not work they are in fact counterproductive to the end goal which would be to rid the world of illicit substances. In many circumstances these policies incriminate men and women who instead of being jailed for their habits should be rehabilitated and introduced back into society as functioning members. Across the world U.S led drug policy has led to the creation of extremely lucrative black markets which violent criminal organizations take advantage of. Just south of our border is a drug fueled civil war that we helped create. Which goes to show the ineffectiveness and shortsightedness of our drug
The War on drugs has been one of the most controversial topics in the past twenty years. While the official “War on Drugs” started in 1968, I believe it started when prohibition began. Shortly after alcohol was made illegal, so was cannabis along with other drugs such as heroin once commonly sold in pharmacies. The Nixon administration decided to double down the efforts of law enforcement which was designed to “protect and serve” against the smuggling, sale, distribution and consumption. What followed this “war on drugs” was a massive court system, for profit jails and prisons, militarization of police and little has been done to decrease the amount of drugs consumed. Since 1972 the number of incarcerated people increased five fold, without a decrease in drug use or crime rate. Furthermore illicit drugs have become purer without an increase in price. (Moore et. al.) This mass incarceration of many non-violent offenders is seen as a statistic of proponents of the drug war as a success while many communities and families are in anguish over prejudiced policing and a system that constantly works against them. The consequences of imprisoning so many drug users is that by removing key parts of communities and families and then depositing them …show more content…
Not only do the policies in place not work they are in fact counterproductive to the end goal which would be to rid the world of illicit substances. In many circumstances these policies incriminate men and women who instead of being jailed for their habits should be rehabilitated and introduced back into society as functioning members. Across the world U.S led drug policy has led to the creation of extremely lucrative black markets which violent criminal organizations take advantage of. Just south of our border is a drug fueled civil war that we helped create. Which goes to show the ineffectiveness and shortsightedness of our drug