For more than forty years our country has had a problem with our southern border neighbor - Mexico. The issue with the increasing number of consumers of drugs along with the violence associated with the smuggling of narcotics can be traced back to 1954, during Eisenhower’s presidency (Suddath). When Eisenhower was president he realized that the rates of people using drugs was increasing, which is why he started a five member cabinet to stop the “narcotic addiction” (Suddath). Still this issue seemed to be a growing problem because in 1973 President Nixon founded the Drug Enforcement Administration (Suddath). His goal was to reduce the statistics of the illegal use of drugs by increasing the size of federal drug agencies (“A Brief History of the Drug War”). Another problem that arose during his presidency was whether or not to criminalize or decriminalize marijuana (“A Brief History of the Drug War”). During his presidency eleven states wanted to decriminalize marijuana stating that it could be used for medicinal reasons and lower the illegal consumption of drugs statistics (“A Brief History of the Drug War”). Nixon was set on decriminalizing marijuana but later this subject was abandoned as parents complained about the increasing number of teens abusing the use of marijuana (“A Brief History of the Drug War”). It is apparent that the presidents aid to stop the use of illegal drugs did little to help. When Ronald Reagan was sworn into presidency he decided to expand the drug war in hopes that it could alleviate the statistics of people consuming smuggled illegal drugs (“A Brief History of the Drug War”). His efforts, however, only made the incarceration rates increase, “ The number of people behind bars for nonviolent drug law offe... ... middle of paper ... ... we have to educate students and help them be successful so that they will never want to fall under the influence of drugs. Most importantly we have to recognize that this problem will not go away quickly, it will take a long time to stop these gangs that have infiltrated and terrorized people, but we have to keep on educating and providing resources so that people do not go under the influence of drugs. Works Cited “A Brief History of the Drug War.” Drug Policy Alliance. n.p. n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014. Archibold, C, Randal. The New York Times. Apatzingan Journal. 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. Faysett, Richard. Los Angeles Times. n.p. 7 Nov. 2013. Web. 5 Feb. 2014. Seper, Jerry. “Brutal Mexican Drug Gang Crosses Into U.S.” Washington Times. 19 April. 2011. Web. 30 Jan. 2014. Suddath, Claire. “The War on Drugs.” Time. Time Inc. 25 Mar. 2009. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
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.
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.
Lately it seems that drug policy and the war on drugs has been in the headlines quite a lot. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the policies that the United States government takes against illegal drugs are coming into question. The mainstream media is catching on to the message of organizations and individuals who have long been considered liberal "Counter Culture" supporters. The marijuana question seems to be the most prevalent and pressed of the drugs and issues that are currently being addressed. The messages of these organizations and individuals include everything from legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, to full-unrestricted legalization of the drug. Of course, the status quo of vote seeking politicians and conservative policy makers has put up a strong resistance to this "new" reform lobby. The reasons for the resistance to the changes in drug policies are multiple and complex. The issues of marijuana’s possible negative effects, its use as a medical remedy, the criminality of distribution and usage, and the disparity in the enforcement of current drug laws have all been brought to a head and must be addressed in the near future. It is apparent that it would be irresponsible and wrong for the government to not evaluate it’s current general drug policies and perhaps most important, their marijuana policy. With the facts of racial disparity in punishment, detrimental effects, fiscal strain and most importantly, the history of the drug, the government most certainly must come to the conclusion that they must, at the very least, decriminalize marijuana use and quite probably fully legalize it.
The New Republic, Vol. 210. (1994): May, pp. 39-42. Wattenberg, Daniel.
Alexander focuses on the War on Drugs to illustrate the drug war affects millions in today’s society. Although many will argue that the purpose of the War on Drugs is to protect society, Alexander utilizes facts and statistics to prove that this notion is false. First, the majority of those arrested are not charged with a serious offense. Alexander states, “In 2005, for example, four out of five drug arrests were for possession, and only one out of five was for sales”. This statistic illustrates that the drug war does help the nation get rid of big-time dealers. The only thing that the War on Drugs has achieved is the significant increase in the number of people incarcerated in the United States. From 1980 to 2000, the number of incarcerated individuals has increased from 300,000 to more than 2 million. Furthermore, Alexander points to the Fourth Amendment to illustrate how all
Past and Current Trends of Drug Abuse in the United States. Drug abuse has changed over the years due to the trends that Americans face from the encouragement of different cultures. The abuse of substances creates many health problems. The following will discuss the past and current trends in drug use and the effects these drugs have on the health of the individuals who abuse the drugs. The use of cocaine in the United States has declined over the last twenty years, while the use of crack has increased.
Over the last decade, Southwest border violence has elevated into a national security concern. Much of the violence appears to stem from the competing growth and distribution networks that many powerful Mexican drug cartels exercise today. The unfortunate byproduct of this criminality reaches many citizens of the Mexican border communities in the form of indiscriminate street gang shootings, stabbings, and hangings which equated to approximately 6,500 deaths in 2009 alone (AllGov, 2012). That same danger which now extends across the border regions of New Mexico, Arizona, Texas, and California has the potential for alarming escalation. Yet, despite the violence, evermore-brazen behavior continues to grow, as does America’s appetite for drugs. Even though drug-related violence mandates that law enforcement agencies focus on supply reduction, the Office of National Drug Control Policy should shift its present policy formulation efforts to only drug demand reduction because treatment and prevention efforts are inadequate and strategy has evolved little over the last three decades.
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.
Shannon, Elaine. “The War on Drugs: A Losing Battle.” Time.com. Time Magazine, 3 Dec. 2010. Web. 18 Dec. 2011. .
The following is a summary of the President’s policy emphasizing on the President’s stated objectives. Stopping drug use before it starts, providing drug treatment, and attacking the economic basis of the drug trade are the main positions the President stressed. The President’s policy was analyzed by the important tasks played by law enforcement, schools and the community. The apprehension of major drug organizations will be explained how they attribute to the policy. The effectiveness of the President’s drug policy will also be evaluated.
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.
Perhaps the most important factor is the responsibility that each individual has to do their best to continue to fight the war on drugs. This begins at home, educating our young people from a young age on the dangers of using drugs and experimenting with it.
New York: Citadel Press, 1997. Bender, David. The War on Drugs. California: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1998.