Corruption
Ronald Reagan led us to understand that drug use has led to the prevalence of corruption all over in the country especially within our police force. Police share assets after raid and seizure of drugs thereby leading to an undercover business led by police officers. This makes it easy for the police to deal in corruption due to the cash involved with these types of raids. The corrupt police are therefore the major winners of the “War on Drugs” due to confiscation of property.
Another group of individuals who benefit from these drugs are terrorists whom have played a major role in many undertakings meant to derail the national government and undermine the work achieved. Terrorists get most of their funding from illegal drug sales
…show more content…
To help reduce society using substances, the government should help the public by making treatment programs affordable and offering alternatives for citizens to have insurance. The government should create programs that focus on education of these substances and programs to prevent the future generation to follow and to not end up on the wrong path. Law enforcement should monitor their officers when it comes to raids or seizures, to make sure there is no corruption going on within their agency. To overcome this battle, the government, state, law enforcement, and local agencies will have to pull together to become a team. “If we’re to defeat this enemy, we’ve got to do it as one people, together, united in purpose and committed to victory and victory in this case is a drug-free generation” (Ronald Reagan, …show more content…
(2000). The war on drugs: An international encyclopedia. Reference Reviews, 14(8), 15. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/215215845?accountid=458
Roleff, T. L. (2004). War on drugs: opposing viewpoints. San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press.
The war on drugs: Winners and losers [Video file]. (1999). In Films On Demand. Retrieved October 30, 2015, from http://digital.films.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=7967&xtid=11181
Van Wormer, K. (2011). Understanding and Working With Substance Misusers, by Aaron Pycroft. Journal Of Social Work Practice In The Addictions, 11(3), 286-287.
While the War on Drugs may have been portrayed as a colorblind movement, Nixon’s presidency and reasoning for its implementation solidifies that it was not. Nixon coined the term “War on Drugs” in his 1971 anti-drug campaign speech, starting the beginning of an era. He voiced, “If there is one area where the word ‘war’ is appropriate, it is in the fights against crime” (DuVernay, 13th). This terminology solidified to the public that drug abusers were an enemy, and if the greatest publicized abusers were black, then black people were then enemy. This “war” started by Nixon claimed it would rid the nation of dealers, but in fact, 4/5 of arrests were for possession only (Alexander, 60). Nixon employed many tactics in order to advance the progress
Smyth, N. (1994). Addictions counseling: a practical guide to counseling people with chemical and other addictions/The addiction process: effective social work approaches/Clinical work with substance-abusing clients (book). Social Work, 39(5), 616.
Reagan also showed his strength and courage when he created the war on drugs. Mary Anastasia O'Grady explains how Mexico’s President warned the United States about the rampant drug trafficking problem, and how he urged us to take action: "This problem will spill across. Drug ga...
New York: New York, 2010. Print. The. Should the U.S. Continue Its War on Drugs? Opposing Views: Issues, Experts, Answers.
The war on drug not only change the structure of the criminal justice system, it also change the ways that police officers, prosecutors and judges do their jobs. Even worse, the way politicians address crime. The tough stand on drugs started during the Nixon presidency, most of the resources was focus on medical treatment rather than punishment. Although it was a better strategy and alternative than the drug war policies that exist today, it was a very divisive issue between the conservatives and the liberals. The war on drug ignited during the Reagan administration, two third of the financial resources were being spent on law enforcement. In addition, the end of the cold war left the United States with weaponry and resources that needed to be repurposed. As a result, small town were given high power grade artilleries and weaponry, and means to form specialized tactical units such as SWAT teams in case of unusual event. To maintain and justify the need for these new expenditures, SWAT teams are used in any drug warran...
Concerned authorities have focused essentially on criminalization and punishment, to find remedies to the ever-increasing prevalent drug problem. In the name of drug reducing policies, authorities endorse more corrective and expensive drug control methods and officials approve stricter new drug war policies, violating numerous human rights. Regardless of or perhaps because of these efforts, UN agencies estimate the annual revenue generated by the illegal drug industry at $US400 billion, or the equivalent of roughly eight per cent of total international trade (Riley 1998). This trade has increased organized/unorganized crime, corrupted authorities and police officials, raised violence, disrupted economic markets, increased risk of diseases an...
A “drug-free society” has never existed, and probably will never exist, regardless of the many drug laws in place. Over the past 100 years, the government has made numerous efforts to control access to certain drugs that are too dangerous or too likely to produce dependence. Many refer to the development of drug laws as a “war on drugs,” because of the vast growth of expenditures and wide range of drugs now controlled. The concept of a “war on drugs” reflects the perspective that some drugs are evil and war must be conducted against the substances
President Reagan established the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) following the passage of the Anti-Abuse Act of 1988 amidst mounting risk of drug dependence becoming more pervasive in American workplaces and schools. The legislation established the need for the federal government to make a good-faith effort in maintaining drug-free work places, schools, and drug abuse and rehabilitation programs for many users (Eddy, 2005). The early focus for the ONDCP’s was to curb the rising drug threat emanating from the drug cartels operating throughout South America, in...
Shannon, Elaine. “The War on Drugs: A Losing Battle.” Time.com. Time Magazine, 3 Dec. 2010. Web. 18 Dec. 2011. .
The National Drug Control Strategy was issued two years ago to reduce drug use among teenagers and adults. The success of the President’s drug policy can be measured by its results. The student drug testing approach has reduced drug use and discouraged first time users significantly. Communities have been more actively involved in anti-drug programs for youth and adults. The increase in budget for law enforcement will enhance their effectiveness in detaining drug lords and cartels.
As this paper had explored, US drug prohibition, from its inception, followed by the “war on drugs”, have failed. The repressive strategies found within the drug wars not only are not able to handle the inherently complex nature of the international drug trade, but it, as history has shown, has exasperated the problem. At the national level, the “war on drugs” effects was just as ineffective and detrimental to society with heavy mandatory minimum prison sentences and the world's highest imprisonment rate. In this regards, the drug war was a failure; however, in some other respect, it is a success. It is a success in that drug laws disproportionately affected minorities, especially the black community; moreover, it exclusively targets the lower rungs of society. As this paper has examined, the “war on drugs” is a proxy genocide of the lower class.
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
Walters, John P. "No surrender: the drug war saves lives." National Review 27 Sept. 2004: 41. Student Edition. Web. 19 Mar. 2014.
The "War on Drugs" Palo Alto: Mayfield, 1986. Kennedy, X.J., Dorothy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron, eds. The Bedford Reader. 6th ed. of the book.
Perhaps most substance abuse starts in the teen years when young people are susceptible to pressure from their peers. One of the main concerns when dealing with substance abuse is the long term problems with substance such as addiction, dependency and tolerance. The physical state of an individual, who is addicted to a substance, will deteriorate over a long period of time. This is due to the chemicals that are being put into an individual body. One of the most important aspects of the effect of substance abuse on society includes ill health, disease, sickness, and in many cases death. The impact of substance abuse not only affects individuals who abuse substances but it affects our economy. Our government resources are negatively impacted by individual who abuse substances. According to (Lagliaro 2004) the implication of drug users extend far beyond the user, often damaging their relationships with their family, community, and health workers, volunteer and wider