The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was policy pushed into legislation on the heels of public outcry over the death of University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias. The basketball star, who two days earlier was drafted 2nd overall in the NBA draft, died of cocaine intoxication. Ten years prior, President Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” in America. He hoped that propaganda and social encouragement would move America to change its perception on drugs. Going so far to ask influential figures like Elvis Presley, who later died of drug overdose, to help create a drug free America (Deborah J. Vagins, 2006). During that time crack cocaine became a budding problem. The trade was notorious for the violence accompanying it and started to get the attention of the American public. Reagen secured his presidency by convincing American voters that he was tougher on drugs than challenger Walter Mondale (Federal Sentencing Reporter, 2011). In this changing America, Len Bias’ scandalous death became national news and frightened parents everywhere. They were told his passing was a result of a one-time experimentation with cocaine. Democrats at the time new it was a big issue and decided to toughen their stance. Eric Sterling, who served as counsel to the House committee that drafted the ’86 law, recalled drug policy becoming “ the sole focus of legislative activity for the remainder of the session on both sides of the aisle.” Len Bias’ tragedy soon became the force behind every policy and press conference (EASLEY, 2011). Bias was a world class athlete with a clean record. There was no evidence that he had ever done cocaine before. The rhetoric soon became “drugs will kill you even if you only try them one.” Sterling explained further “Usually whe... ... middle of paper ... .... EASLEY, J. (2011, June 19). The day the drug war really started. Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/: http://www.salon.com/2011/06/19/len_bias_cocaine_tragedy_still_affecting_us_drug_law/ Federal Sentencing Reporter. (2011, Jun). Analysis of the Impact of Amendment to the Statutory Penalties for Crack Cocaine Offenses Made by the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. Law & legislation, pp. Vol. 23 Issue 5, p345-360. 16p. LARKIN JR., P. J. (2014). CRACK COCAINE, CONGRESSIONAL INACTION, AND EQUAL PROTECTION. Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, pp. Vol. 37 Issue 1, p241-294. 54p. Stein, D. ((2010)). The War of 1986: Constructing the Prison Regime Consensus and the Abolitionist Demand. Annual Meeting (p. 1). Law & Society. United States Sentencing Commission. (2009). Report on Cocaine and Federal Sentencing Policy. Retrieved from http://www.ussc.gov/: http://www.ussc.gov/
“Just Say No!” A statement that takes us deep into yet another decade in the history of the United States which was excited by controversies, social issues, and drug abuse. The topic of this statement is fueled by the growing abuse of cocaine in the mid 1980s. I shall discuss the effects of the crack cocaine epidemic of the mid 1980s from a cultural and social stand point because on that decade this country moved to the rhythms and the pace of this uncanny drug. Cocaine took its told on American society by in the 1980s; it ravaged with every social group, race, class, etc. It reigned over the United States without any prejudices. Crack cocaine was the way into urban society, because of its affordability in contrast to the powdered form. In society the minorities were the ones most affected by the growing excess of crime and drug abuse, especially African Americans; so the question was “Why was nearly everybody convicted in California federal court of crack cocaine trafficking black?” (Webb: Day 3). The growing hysteria brought forth many questions which might seem to have concrete answers, but the fact of the matter is they are all but conspiracy in the end, even though it does not take away the ambiguity and doubt. I will take on only a few topics from the vast array of events and effects this period in time had tended to. Where and who this epidemic seemed to affect more notably, and perhaps how the drugs came about such territories and people. What actions this countries authority took to restore moral sanity, and how it affected people gender wise.
In Douglas N. Husak’s A Moral Right to Use Drugs he attempts to look at drug use from an impartial standpoint in order to determine what is the best legal status for currently illegal drugs. Husak first describes the current legal situation concerning drugs in America, citing figures that show how drug crimes now make up a large percentage of crimes in our country. Husak explains the disruption which this causes within the judicial system and it is made clear that he is not content with the current way drugs are treated. The figures that Husak offers up, such as the fact that up to one third of all felony charges involve drugs, are startling, but more evidence is needed than the fact that a law is frequently broken to justify it’s repeal.
Mandatory minimums for controlled substances were first implemented in the 1980s as a countermeasure for the hysteria that surrounded drugs in the era (“A Brief History,” 2014). The common belief was that stiff penalties discouraged people from using drugs and enhanced public safety (“A Brief History,” 2014). That theory, however, was proven false and rather than less illegal drug activity, there are simply more people incarcerated. Studies show that over half of federal prisoners currently incarcerated are there on drug charges, a 116 percent percentage rise since 1970 (Miles, 2014). Mass incarceration is an ever growing issue in the United States and is the result of policies that support the large scale use of imprisonment on
Clayton, R. R. (1996). Cocaine use in the United States: In a blizzard or just being snowed. Cocaine Use in America: Epidemiologic and Clinical Perspectives. National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Monograph, 61, 8-34.
New York: New York, 2010. Print. The. Should the U.S. Continue Its War on Drugs? Opposing Views: Issues, Experts, Answers.
America's War on Drugs: Policy and Problems. 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.
We cannot afford to keep using the same approach in hopes of diminishing our drug problem in the United States. In a study posted on RAND.org, the author Jonathan P. Caulkins compares many methods we can use to help with drug crime. The first graph compares federal mandatory minimum sentences, conventional enforcement at all levels of government, and treatment of heavy users. Conventional enforcement prevented around thirty kilo grams of cocaine from being used, while federal mandatory minimums prevented around forty kilograms from being used. Treatment of heavy users blew both of the other methods out of the water.
Schaffer Library of Drug Policy (http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/GovPubs/cjstcha.htm) A Criminal Justice System Strategy for Treating Cocaine-Heroin Abusing Offenders in Custody.
An American resolution: The history of prisons in the United States from 1777 to 1877 by Matthew Meskell. Stanford Law Review.
“[The war on drugs] has created a multibillion-dollar black market, enriched organized crime groups and promoted the corruption of government officials throughout the world,” noted Eric Schlosser in his essay, “A People’s Democratic Platform”, which presents a case for decriminalizing controlled substances. Government policies regarding drugs are more focused towards illegalization rather than revitalization. Schlosser identifies a few of the crippling side effects of the current drug policy put in place by the Richard Nixon administration in the 1970s to prohibit drug use and the violence and destruction that ensue from it (Schlosser 3). Ironically, not only is drug use as prevalent as ever, drug-related crime has also become a staple of our society. In fact, the policy of the criminalization of drugs has fostered a steady increase in crime over the past several decades. This research will aim to critically analyze the impact of government statutes regarding drugs on the society as a whole.
Timothy Lynch, writing in the conservative magazine the National Review, writes about how the drug war has not made very much progress and has essentially failed. Lynch writes about how voters in California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Alaska, and Maine that have rejected ideas to improve the war on drugs and instead they “approved initiatives calling for the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes” (40). Lynch also writes that “the supply of drugs has not been hampered in any serious way by the war on drugs” (41). This supports the conservative’s claim that the war on drugs is not making any progress to stop the supply of drugs coming into America. Conservative writer for the magazine National Review, William Buckley, shows his outrage towards the Council on Crime in America for their lack of motivation to change the drug policies that are ineffective. Buckley asks, “If 1.35 million drug users were arrested in 1994, how many drug users were not arrested? The Council informs us that there are more than 4 million casual users of cocaine” (70). Buckley goes on to discuss in the article, “Misfire on Drug Policy,” how the laws set up by the Council were meant to decrease the number of drug users, not increase the number of violators. Richard Lowry writes an article for the National Review, quoting a Council on Foreign Relations report on drug eradication policies
Woolley, John T., and Gerhard Peters. "Richard Nixon: Special Message to the Congress on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control." The American Presidency Project. The American Presidency Project, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
Shannon, Elaine. “The War on Drugs: A Losing Battle.” Time.com. Time Magazine, 3 Dec. 2010. Web. 18 Dec. 2011. .
The. McMurty, John. A. "Caging the Poor: The Case Against the Prison System." The Case For Penal Abolition? Ed. W. Gordon West and Ruth Morris.
Wolf, M. (2011, June 4). We should declare an end to our disastrous war on drugs. Financial Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.consortiumlibrary.org/docview/870200965?accountid=14473