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Cause and effect of war on drugs
Negative effects of drug abuse
Negative effects of drug abuse
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The War on Drugs in America The longest war isn’t one fought with weapons for freedom, land, or beliefs. It was a war against the use of illegal substances. The War on Drugs is a term that has been used for many years to describe the fight against illegal substances. However, time after time this war has failed. There has been a plethora of ideas on how to ultimately end this war. However, according to many polls, the drug problem in America is a rising problem. In order to understand the War on Drugs, people must understand how it was caused Drug abuse is the cardinal reason why a drug war is crucial. Drug abuse is the “harmful, non-medical use of an illegal substance” (Croft 12). According to many polls, the drug abuse problem has been rising …show more content…
According to a Gallup Poll, “ninety-four percent of Americans are aware that drug abuse can be dangerous” (Croft 14). However the awareness is not affecting the amount of people who still use. Approximately three million people use cocaine and heroin, fifty million addicted to nicotine, and 18 million are addicted to alcohol (Croft 8). Statistically speaking, there is about twenty-six million people who use drugs at least once a year and one hundred million who try a drug in their lifetime (Salak …show more content…
However in order to stop drug abuse the government needs to stop drug business. Government officials have funded many things in order to try and prevent drug trades from occurring such as law enforcement arrests, border patrols, and hunting down drug labs” (Croft 35). Even with the funding drugs still are bought and sold in America because the drug cartel is a very big business. Many drug dealers are ones from others countries that are harder to stop because of how large the business is. (KHAN Accessed April 6th) The Drug War should be stopped for many reasons. Drug abuse causes physical, emotional, economical, and social problems. These problems make the Drug War a mandatory war to fight. How exactly have the problems affected America? Is there any hope of them changing? Physical problems from drug abuse can range from a variety of different complications. A rising problem that affects thirty-percent of newborn babies is addiction (Maryland Recovery Accessed April 17th). Babies who are born addicted to crack often experience health problems such as “heart attacks and behavior disorders” (Salak 28). Problems with labor also occurs. Babies born too early, premature labor, die or have serious health complications because of the mothers using. In the most severe case, some babies do not even make it to the delivery room depending on how severe the mother addiction is (Salak
The film, American Drug War: The Last White Hope was directed by Kevin Booth. He lost four close people who were addicted to alcohol, nicotine and prescription pain killers. Through this film he portrayed how the war on drugs in the United States is a way for those in power and on wall street to profit meanwhile incarcerating the poor people who sell to get food on the table or are addicted to drugs. President Nixon created the Drug Enforcement Agency and the scheduling of drugs eventually declaring a war on drugs. Since his presidency the American government has been in a state of war on the fight against illegal drug use. There has been no advancements in this war, if anything the drugs are winning. It was stated in the film that there are
The War on Drugs has been a common phrase in the United States for many decades. What exactly does this mean and how does it shape U.S. foreign policy? The War on Drugs can be defined as the systematic and aggressive policy that is determined to undermine and stop the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. This policy is backed by several U.S. institutions including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Customs. Also, included in this list are the numerous local law enforcement agencies across the country.
Alexander focuses on the War on Drugs to illustrate how 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 fact that war is the word we use for almost everything—on terrorism, drugs, even poverty—has certainly helped to desensitize us to its invocation; if we wage wars on everything, how bad can they be?”- Glenn Greenwald. The use of drugs through out the United States has gotten worse and worse every year, and I know that in the U.S. it is both a health problem and a crime problem. But I feel like that we should treat the abuse of illegal drugs as a matter of public health. It should be treated as a matter of public health over a matter of criminal justice because we can help people that abuse drugs and are addicted. Also well be able to get their lives on track so they won’t have to use drugs again which makes dealers go away because no one is buying their drugs anymore.” The origins and nature of the appeal of anti drug claims must be confronted if we are ever to understand how “drug problems” are constructed in the U.S.”(pg.92) –The Social Construction of Drug Scares
American law enforcement has made drug enforcement one of its highest priorities for almost forty years. However, more people than ever are beginning to question the true benefits of the Drug War. The President of the United States, Barack Obama has even referred to the Drug War as an “utter failure” in the YouTube video “Barack Obama on Marijuana Decriminalization (2004).” These kinds of negative opinions on the Drug War are not unjustified. The Drug War has cost Americans 33 billion dollars and countless lives (Miron Par. 1). The Drug War is a poor alternative to combat drug use in America as evidenced by the history of Prohibition, the crime it creates, the harmful effects it has on the lives of users, and the numerous deaths it results in. The Drug War is a failed policy and the government must respond by legalizing all recreational drugs.
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is a group of problems a newborn experiences when exposed to addictive drugs that the mother consumes during pregnancy. NAS is a growing concern in the United States and can have significant adverse effects on newborns. Shortly after birth the infant can display many physical symptoms of withdrawal. In addition, substance abuse during pregnancy can cause premature birth, low birth weight, seizures, birth defects, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and possible long-term cognitive and behavioral problems.
The war on drugs in our culture is a continuous action that is swiftly lessening our society. This has been going on for roughly 10-15 years and has yet to slow down in any way. Drugs continue to be a problem for the obvious reason that certain people abuse them in a way that can lead to ultimate harm on such a person. These drugs do not just consist of street drugs (marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy), but prescription medications as well. Although there are some instances where drugs are being used by subjects excessively, there has been medical research to prove that some of these drugs have made a successful impact on certain disorders and diseases.
War is a cruel and nasty enterprise. However, it is essential to human history and societal change. These two facts together might seem paradoxical and incomprehensible, or they might reveal deeply disturbing aspects of human character. Drugs bring in an abundance of illegal activity like gangs fighting over turf. This type of fighting causes high percentages of fatalities. We see this in every part of the globe when listening to the news media. Almost every American knows someone who has been touched by the abuse of drugs, whether it be drug dealing, imprisonment, prescription drug usage or someone being killed because of the drug trade. I am of the opinion that war comes with underlying currents from power conflicts to economic growth. The Structural Perspective approach to the war on drugs is to function as described by Linda Mooney, David Knox, and Caroline Schacht state in chapter 15… of Understanding Social Problems (2013), “Wars... function inspire scientific and technological
The current situation of drug control in the United States is imperfect and inadequate. Millions of men and women, both young and old, are affected by illicit drug use. It costs the United States about $6,123 every second because of drug use and its consequences (Office). Moreover, 90 percent of all adults with a substance use disorder started using under the age of 18 and half under the age of 15. Children who first smoke marijuana under the age of 14 are five times more likely to abuse drugs as adults than those who first use marijuana at age 18. Finally, the children of alcoholics are four times more likely to develop problems with alcohol (Prevent). Current legislation that has to do with the United States’ drug control policy is the Controlled Substances Act, which regulates the manufacture, importation, possession, use, and distribution of certain substances (Shannon). In 1966, Congress passed the Narcotic Addict Rehabilitation Act also known as the NARA. This legislati...
Bush's “war on drugs”, an extension to Reagon's former battle, had “crowded the courts, filled the prisons, corrupted law officers, compromised ... civil liberties, and criminalized substantial sectors of American society.” 1 In comparison to the leniency experienced in the late 1960s under Nixon where a “specific sub-culture of some 68,088 identifiable heroin addicts” who, subject to arrest for the possession of the heroin, and successfully convicted, were “sentenced to treatment at the federal hospital in Lexington, Kentucy.”2
The war on drugs has been going on for over forty years, and it is a war that cannot be won. Drugs will continue to be an ongoing issue in society, some people depend on drugs for many reasons which is why we cannot get rid of drugs altogether. The U.S. has established harsh sentencing on individuals found with drugs such as marijuana, crack cocaine, and heroine, but that can only do so much. The war on drugs has caused the prison population to grow, in an article it states: “Given the widespread acceptance of the centrality of the drug war to prison growth, it is not surprising that recent efforts by state and federal governments to rein in prison growth have focused on drug enforcement. New York State, for example, has weakened its notorious
In the past fifty years, the War on Drugs has shifted its focus of ensuring well-being of our nation towards the mass imprisonment of drug users. Along the way, there has been an abundance of issues and criticisms that comes with the War on Drugs. The American Governments’ War on Drugs is a preposterously ineffective method in preventing drug use, and should be replaced based on its deep impact on our society, our economy, and the hypocrisy behind the war itself.
According by Barry McCaffrey, “Although the struggle to reduce drug use is not a war, illegal drugs contribute to the deaths of more than 50,000 Americans each year--close to the number of U.S. casualties during the entire Vietnam War” (McCaffrey 5). The Vietnam War was the cause of tension for many Americans for years because the United States lost the largest amount of soldiers. This number of deaths makes many Americans frightened when they hear about the Vietnam War. However, the illicit drugs have killed much more Americans than that war, and they are more dangerous than the war or any other weapons because it has killed more people gradually over time. Drug-related deaths tend to kill more Americans, and account for a higher number of lives lost compare with other causes of death such as war, illness, and accidents. Illicit drugs have become the most dangerous chemical substances in society; for example, there is an estimate that thousands of people die annually due to illicit drug users. This is more than the hundreds of people who die every day from car accidents, stroke, or cancer. Illicit drugs also cause many kinds of death in society that people should prevent before it 's too
In 1971 the United States President Richard Nixon proclaimed drugs as “America’s public enemy number one” thus declaring the war on drugs. The war on drugs is the campaign against illicit drug trade with the ultimate goal of lowering the consumption of drugs in America. After 40 years of the war on drugs, it’s proven
Since the reign of Nixon in the presidential office the drug war practices have led to the conviction of millions of Americans – excessively poor people and people of color – while this drug war is continually failing in the reduction of drug use and drug related disease and overdose. The major problem with the war on drugs is the way authorities – like government officials – are handling the situations brought upon through the drug war. A solution to the war on drugs would be to create safer way to help drug users across America.