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Although Richard Nixon first declared a “war on drugs” in 1971, the war escalated during the Reagan presidency and shifted its focus from treatment toward incarceration and law enforcement. As George Moss and Evan Thomas explain, Reagan came to Washington “committed to waging a war on drugs and bringing the international drug trade under control” in 1981. Thanks to the rise of the Medellin Cartel in Colombia and other cartels in Latin America during the 1980s, illegal drug trade networks flourished, and America became “the world’s major consumer of illicit drugs.” This increased usage of drugs led to many social crises, including heightened urban crime and health problems, which encouraged both the Reagan administration and private groups…
How is it possible that America, the strongest country in the world, cannot rid the use and sale of illegal drugs? First, we must take a look at what their policy includes. The Drug Wars’ “primary aim is to prohibit supply, so that Americans cannot find or cannot afford drugs to use; its secondary aim is to discourage those who do consume drugs, mainly by penalizing them,” (Bertram, pg. 3.) Still, with this policy and its lack of achievement, we deny any true change. “Despite a decline in casual drug use since the late 1970’s, and despite the billions of dollars spent to fight the drug war, the number of people suffering drug use or addiction, the level of violent drug-related crime, and the spread of diseases linked to drug…
All though the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. consitition " the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures (Ehlenberger 1)". School officials do not need probable cause or a warrant to search students, a public school is a place that should foster an environment that is safe and free from criminal activity. Drug dogs search ensures a protected student body and are only minimally invasive. Resource officers, teachers, and administartion with experience in this practice of drug searches often discover many complications with condoning the searches. First, officers need to have a reason to search for drugs.…
Ultimately the new “war on drugs” had a negative impact on American life during the mid 1980s-early 2000s due to the economic costs, the strain put on our justice system, and the civil liberty violations that occurred. As with any other war or bureaucratic endeavor, money must be heavily drawn upon and invested. When discussing the overall cost of this “war” through this time, congressman Lee Hamilton stated that, “Federal and local governments spend over $3 billion each year to fight drugs.” (cite) In his quote it becomes apparent that the United States had become highly invested and arguably obsessed in a seemingly impossible “war.”…
In our world today you always hear about this so called ‘War on Drugs’. Living in Southern California, close to the Mexican Border I hear about this all the time. With always hearing about this so called war and seeing shows about cartels and drug smuggling, it began to spark my curiosity. What exactly is this so called ‘War on Drugs,’ are we winning, and what exactly is this all about?…
The war on drugs has been going on for over thirty years. It does not appear that a lot of progress has been made. If the United States were fighting any other war, this long, with these results, they would change direction. The United States current drug policy has consumed tens of billions of dollars and ruined countless lives. According to Unitarian Universalists for Drug Policy Reform (2006), "The costs of this policy include the increasing breakdown of families, escalating rates of incarceration, political corruption, and the imposition of United States policy abroad. For United States taxpayers, the price tag on the drug offensive has soared from sixty six million in 1968 to…
It has been said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over, expecting a different result; this statement fairly sums up the War on Drugs. Let us imagine a scenario of two men, one of them has killed 4 young women in cold blood, for ‘sport’ as he likes to say; the other man was caught with a large amount of an illegal drug. In prison it would not be unlikely for these two to share a cell, but my question is why? Why are these drastically different crimes seen as being worthy of the same punishment? According to a pro-marijuana web site, studies show that in Dallas, Texas “Possession of two ounces or less of marijuana is punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a fine up to $2,000. Possession of greater than two ounces is punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine up to $4,000” (“We Be High”). It seems to defy logic, and upon observation of the facts, it does. The War on Drugs, specifically the prohibition of marijuana, is an unnecessary drain on our country’s tax dollars and law enforcement agencies. Some would even say that these agencies have no right to tell us what we as US Citizens can put into our bodies in the first place. Not only that, but the skepticism and prohibition of marijuana is keeping people from exploring the amazing potential that it has in the medicinal field. If marijuana were legalized properly, not only would these problems begin to work themselves out, but the illegal market and the problems and dangers caused by the prohibition of marijuana would cease to exist.…
In this paper I will evaluate America's War on Drugs. More specifically, I will outline our nation's general drug history and look critically at how Congress has influenced our current ineffective drug policy. Through this analysis I hope to show that drug prohibition policies in the United States, for the most part, have failed. Additionally, I will highlight and evaluate the influences acting on individual legislators' decisions to continue support for these ineffective policies as a more general demonstration of Congress' role in the formation of our nation's drug policy strategy. Finally, I will conclude this analysis by outlining the changes I feel necessary for future progress to be made. Primary among these changes are a general promotion of drug education and the elimination of our current system's many de-legitimating hypocrisies.…
Yet people in law enforcement and local communities are not convinced for good reasons. Although casual illegal drugs use appears to fluctuate and may have declined in recent years, the regular usage of these drugs has not. The government warning about how dangerous these are, such as; heroin, marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine only confuse matter further. Actually, such warning are an indication that these drugs are unwinnable. Production sources , smuggling techniques, purity price and use patterns have changed through the years in dynamic drugs markets as governments has made claims of progress, but the war on drugs that began in 1914 has no end in…
The war on drugs in the United States is an expensive and deadly ongoing battle that has not yet been won. The term war on drugs provides drug distributors with more income due to the illegal nature of drugs. Americans do not have readily available easy access to many types of drugs that are illegal. Because narcotics are illegal that is enough for many people to want drugs. This is a major problem faced today in our prison systems throughout the United States. Especially in the state of California where many people find their way into our criminal justice system due to many factors…
The policies that constitute “War on Drugs” are primarily based on racism due to biased policies, Jim Crow laws, and racial bias. Since America has been knowledgeable of the problems drugs bring upon the public the government has attempted to fight against drugs, however every fight is not fair. War is defined as a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation, however can war be based upon race? Or can war even exist if there is not a clear enemy. When you take the word war and glue it to the relations with drugs, racism becomes a factor. The so-called “war on drugs” is just a pretty way of saying war against the Africa Americans families. During the 1980s drugs infested the public and became a major issue. The public began to get concern with the consequences that began to increase higher than ever. The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse states that cocaine was mostly commonly used in 1985. It was clear that there had to be something done in order to reduce the consequences. That was when the so-called “War on Drugs” began, yet the war came with baggage. The war on drugs delivered the police system to be racially bias.…
Introduction- Drugs are considered to be a modern day issue. However, if we look to the archeological records, we would find that our ancestors used drugs such as, alcohol, opium, cocoa, magic mushrooms among others for both medical and spiritual purposes. Throughout the years many policies have been created in order to minimize the use of drugs. For example, the first anti-opium laws were directed at the Chinese immigrants in the 1870's. In the 1900’s, an anti-cocaine laws were directed in the South at the black men. But it wasn’t until the 60’s where drugs became a big problem to society. Some Presidents have tried to propose and implement what they believed would be beneficial for our nation. Some of those implementations have succeeded…
Associated Press. (2010, May 13) AP IMPACT: After 40 years, $1 trillion, US War on Drugs has…
According to the text, “The existing budget to fight the supply of drugs cannot compete with the limitless resources available to drug traffickers”. (R.Dowd, 1997). Even though the U.S. spends millions of dollars every year on the war against drugs, it’s not enough. Tax payers’ dollars are being used to fight drugs, while the drug traffickers have almost “limitless” resources due to the large amount of their gross income. Drugs that are being trafficked in the U.S. are also giving gangs the upper hand with a lot of different things. Drug cartels have so much money, power, and even respect from people and other gangs that it makes it even more difficult to stop them. As stated in the text: “ The U.S. has implemented many innovative ways to reduce drug trafficking over the last 20 years, but still has not been successful and bringing the number down to a tolerable level”. (D.Baum,…
The drug war has failed according to the Global Commission on Drug Policy (PolicyMic). Many prison inmates have been jailed for marijuana, but with the recent legalization of it in Washington and Colorado, is justice being done for them? Marijuana was previously illegal and now some states have legalized usage and this is unfair to inmates. Furthermore this causes a drain on state budgets with costs being $47,000 yearly per inmate (PolicyMic). Since the drug war has begun an estimated one trillion tax dollars has been spent (PolicyMic). Much money is spent attempting to stop the underground trade of the drug war inside of America. Unfortunately much of the marijuana revenue travels back to South American drug cartels that manufacture large amounts of cannabis. Instead of spending much money on the drug war, and allowing tons of revenue to circle to drug cartels outside of the United States, some would say that American marijuana legalization will bring profits and the economic benefits back to the American people. Not only will profits come back to America, but legalization will create lots of green jobs and allow corporations to overtake production. This will positively impact the unemployment rate in the United States, and as stated earlier it will help ensure the safety of current users. Legalization not only helps the drug war in America but it also helps the drug war in other countries such as Mexico and Columbia. With…