...The War on Drugs: What is America Fighting For? Sandra Gailer COM/172 September 25, 2013 + The War on Drugs: What is America Fighting For? With the number of arrests having more than tripled in the past 25 years, and billions of dollars spent annually to fund the war on drugs, the United States (U.S.) should consider decriminalizing and regulating illegal drugs to reduce the number of people incarcerated and produce tax revenue from distribution. Since it was first declared by President Nixon in 1971 (Drug Policy Alliance, n.d.) the drug war proves to be causing America more harm than good. With no end in sight, the government should not be focusing on drug prevention but rather drug policy reformation. The US has been funding the war on drugs for decades. Although the intentions behind declaring the war are to help Americans, the reality is the war continues to be causing more harm than good. America has spent at least $1 trillion dollars on the war so far (Drug Policy Alliance, n.d.). In 2010 alone, the federal government spent over $15 billion dollars funding the war, that is at a rate of about $500 per second (Drug War Clock, n.d.). With the amount of debt increasing over a billion dollars every day, our government should be directing efforts towards creating revenue instead of continuing to spend money and increasing taxes. One way to accomplish generating revenue would be if some of the drugs that are considered illegal were decriminalized and regulated by the federal...
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...Anthony Peebles HIST 1302 Jared Ingram Never Ending War The United States has been involved in several wars and have declared itself the winner in most. There has been civil wars and world wars that have taken troops around the globe to defend democracy and freedom. America has stood up for those whose human and civil rights were threatened, we have supplied small armies with the funds, equipment, and intelligence needed to defeat the enemy. America has a great track record at defeating its enemy and making sure they don’t show their heads anymore, but since being declared an enemy publicly in 1971 this enemy continues to deliver major blows to America and its citizens. This enemy is not a nation of communist, an insane dictator, or a group of extremist, this enemy is drugs. The war on drugs has been the biggest and longest war in my lifetime. Although Richard Nixon is known for launching what we consider the modern day war on drugs, this war was started several years prior to Nixon becoming President of the United States. Some local laws against drugs where established as early as 1860. The first national law was the Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914. This act was to provide registration to all that dealt in the services of opium and coca leaves. Coca leaves once extracted provides the bases for cocaine. In this time cocaine was not illegal and was often prescribed by doctors to patients for ailments such as common headaches or colds. Unknowingly those patients became addicted...
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...world the United States of America faces many different threats and issues globally. As a result like many other countries America has and continues to implement more foreign policy for the overall well being of the American people. Even at its closest neighboring borders within Mexico lie huge drug war problems both nations are attempting to resolve through the use of a variety of different foreign policy including military intervention, sharing of information, and stricter border control. Yet it would seem that all of which have been ineffective in solving the problem and may have even worsened it. These costly and terrible policies are hurting both nations and only tarnishing the...
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...This article talks about the war on drugs and its many implications throughout society. Families are being torn apart by arrests, police are focusing mainly on drug-law enforcement, marijuana-offenders are stained with record that bar them from employment and various government assistances, and the people who are being targeted by the drug war are predominantly black. It is evident that America has a serious problem, but it is not marijuana. The first problem with America is that policemen are choosing to focus on enforcing drug laws. The police are utilizing a tactic known as "broken windows", where their central focus is on common low-level offenses, such as that of marijuana use. Concentrating on small crimes revolving around marijuana...
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...In order to understand this complicated web of drug policy in America, there must be quite a bit of backstory provided. This can be traced as far back as 3,400 BC with the usage of opiates in China. Fast forward a couple thousand years to the 1820s in America, thus we can see that opiates came along with the migration of Chinese men. These men were coming for better opportunities, work, and freedom. By 1898, opium usage had become an integral part of society wherein people smoked opium in opium dens. White men were not allowed to the Chinese opium dens and vice versa. Then came along the development of heroin, to help curb morphine addiction, synthesized from the opium poppy, by Bayer. This plan backfired and had extensive unfavorable consequences....
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...From an Economic Standpoint 12/2/2012 The Legalization of Marijuana in America ID: 1175376 Introduction After the recent 2012 United States Presidential Election, whereupon Colorado and Washington passed the policy to legalize marijuana for “adult purposes,” government officials faced conflict as to whether to legalize the drug on a federal level or not (Smith 1). There is a battle between the Supreme Court and federal government regarding enforcement as state law allows production and consumption of the drug while the federal law prohibits such activities. When a state officer finds marijuana on the persons of a Colorado resident, there is no charge; however, when a federal officer finds marijuana on the persons of a Colorado resident the extent of the penalty could be arrest and incarceration. Due to conflicting enforcement policies, America is forced to examine the issue and come to a consensus between the policies to ensure homogeneity between the two lawmaking bodies. One means of analyzing the issue is through an economic perspective. As economics is the study of “how society manages its scarce resources” and the manner in which a society makes decisions, the economics behind a controversial policy can help determine acceptance or rejection of the proposed law (Mankiw 1-1). Based on fundamental economic concepts, historical evidence, global data, and future forecasts, the effects of legalizing marijuana will be analyzed. After analyzing the economics of the legalization...
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...Response Eugene Jarecki point of view is the war on drugs has resulted in more than 45 million arrests, $1 trillion dollars in government spending, and America’s role as the world’s largest jailer. “Forty years ago, President Nixon called a press conference to tell the American people that their “public enemy #1.” - Eugene Jarecki Yet for all that, drugs are cheaper, purer, and more available than ever. The House I Live In shows the daily life from the dealer to the grieving mother, the narcotics officer to the senator, the inmate to the federal judge, and offers a penetrating look at the profound human rights implications of America’s longest war. The War on Drugs is a big thing going on around the world. Now it’s being legal and people in jail are suffering inside for what they have done in the past and they can’t be set loose because the laws have changed. The presidency of Ronald Reagan marked the start of a long period of skyrocketing rates of incarceration, largely thanks to his unprecedented expansion of the drug war. The number of people behind bars for nonviolent drug law offenses increased from 50,000 in 1980 to over 400,000 by 1997. -Ethan Nadelmann, JD The film recognizes drug abuse as a matter of public health, and investigates the tragic errors and shortcomings that have resulted from framing it as an issue for law enforcement. It also examines how political and financial corruption has fueled the war on drugs, despite persistent evidence of its moral, economic...
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...Justin Cottingham English 101 TTH Mr. Mark Rooze November 23, 2009 Drug Trafficking in the U.S. In the United States, there are two basic roots of evil that inspire more than a majority of all criminal activity, greed and drugs. Money and drugs go hand in hand in the U.S. and many places all over the world. The drug epidemic has been sweeping the world and the United States rapidly. More and more Americans are admitting to using drugs regularly. “An estimated 14.8 million American currently use illicit drugs” (Go). This means there is a huge demand and a wide range of demographics for drug dealers. “The 2004 National Drug Threat Assessment reports that in adults, age eighteen to twenty-five, 15.4 percent report having used cocaine in their lifetime, 53.8 percent report having used marijuana, and 15.1 percent report having used MDMA (commonly known as "Ecstasy")” (Swanson). The U.S. government is spending billions to fight a so called war on drugs. For the past 50 years the drug trade has increasingly grown in popularity. It is the biggest money making industry in the world. It is estimated that the highest annual income is around $400 billion with a gross profit margins of 300 percent, making the drug trade worth more than the annual budget of the U.S. DOD (Department of Defense). The demand for illicit drugs is greater worldwide than the demand for textiles and automobiles. It is said that of all international trade, 8% of that is illegal narcotics, while textiles make...
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...suspected that drugs have been part of our culture for decades. Researchers have found nomadic drug paraphernalia dating back to as far as 100BC, where it was believed that cavemen were using hallucinogens in hopes for a glimpse of their deity or god. Fast-forward to present day, drugs are more ingrained in our culture than ever. Except rather being used for spiritual purposes, drugs have become a coping mechanism or our ever chaotic society. Dating back to 1973 when the United States officially waged the “War on Drugs”, the federal government alone has spent 1.3 trillion dollars. In comparison, that would be about year’s salary for about 18 million teachers, or able to sustain about 19.2 american families. Not only have we...
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...The Drug War: Will It Ever Stop? INTRODUCTION The United States and Mexico share a border that stretches 2,000 miles. The border is a product of the clash of the British and Spanish Empires. It is a place of lawlessness and violence. Drug cartels have used the border to smuggle illegal drugs into the United States for years. The United States market for drugs is a multibillion dollar a year industry. 90% of the illegal drugs that are smuggled into America come through our southern borders. As a nation we consume over 50% of the worlds illegal drugs, which exemplify the problem that America has with drug consumption. The demand for illegal drugs in the US allows drug cartels in Mexico to make billions of dollars by smuggling Marijuana, and Methamphetamines through the US/Mexican Border. Efforts to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the US have been unsuccessful. Drug Cartels use various methods in the transportation of their merchandise. Such methods include using underground tunnels, semi trucks, automobiles, and humans to transport these illegal drugs. Only 3 to 8 percent of the drugs that are smuggled from Latin America into the United States is confiscated, which is a very discouraging number. Our border patrol and DEA need to do a better job securing our borders and preventing the flow of such harmful drugs into America. There are a reported 7 cartels that operate in Mexico; the biggest players in the drug trade between Mexico and the US are the Tijuana, Juarez, Sinaloa...
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...Out of every country in the world, America has the highest incarceration rate, and the War on Drugs is to blame. In 1971, President Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” following a rise in popularity of recreational use of illicit substances. He largely increased the size of federal drug control agencies, in addition to putting in place mandatory minimum sentences. The amount of people in prison for nonviolent drug offenses increased from 50,000 in 1980 to over 400,000 by 1997 (A Brief History of the Drug War). Moreover, when we look at the demographics of our prisons, there is a large discrepancy. Thus, we are begged with the question: Why are our prisons disproportionately filled with brown-skinned people? The institutionalized racism that...
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...International 101 Research Paper - Assignment 7 25 November 2013 Drug War: World Issue? Question: Why do certain countries try to stop the drug war and drug trade when it is such a high commodity all over the world? An important part of our world today, which has a high fascination in cultures all over the world is drugs. Drugs have been around for a while but they have not been regulated in any way by many governments. Amsterdam has made marijuana legal which taxes it which goes to the government. TV shows revolve around the use of drugs in society; reality and fiction. Although drugs are something that multiple people, politicians, and government officials all have an opinion on. Even suburban parents and the teenage stoners have a stance on drug trade or drug regulation. Which prompts the question, why do certain countries try to stop the drug war and drug trade when it is such a high commodity all over the world? Studies have show, as displayed in the text of America's Holy War explains that tax policies and property and crime directly correlate with drug trade and problems within a modern society. America is an example of bad drug policy whereas other places, for example Europe, have more liberal drug policy and they live more peaceful lives. The contamination of drugs can spread AIDs and many other life threatening diseases. We spend tax dollars to keep drugs out yet they still find a way back in the American border because they are such a commodity and addiction...
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...In 1968, when American soldiers came home from the Vietnam war addicted to heroin, President Richard Nixon initiated the War on Drugs. More than a decade later, President Ronald Reagan launches the South Florida Drug Task force, headed by then Vice-President George Bush, in response to the city of Miami’s demand for help. In 1981, Miami was the financial and import central for cocaine and Marijuana. Thanks to the task force, drug arrests went up by 27%, and drug seizures went up by 50%. With that, the need for prosecutors and judges also rose which helped boost our economy (Thirty Years of America’s Drug War). Despite these increased arrests and seizures, marijuana and cocaine still poured into south Florida. At this stage, the root of the problem was the Columbian Cartels, and they weren't attacked; the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) soon realized that they needed to suppress the cartels. In 1982, the DEA went to Columbia to eradicate fields of marijuana and coca plants; these fields were located and burned. The hard part now, was finding the labs used to turn the coca leaves into cocaine. These labs were in very remote locations, to avoid any surveillance. On March 10,1984 the DEA finally was able to track down the chemicals used to process cocaine in one of the labs, they seized twelve tons of cocaine; it was the DEA’s biggest take down yet. Despite the DEA’s hard word and efforts the availability of cocaine on American streets remained the same. The Cartel leaders had money...
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...multiple systems of racialized control demonstrates the national struggle that America has been dealing with for centuries. Throughout American history we often see positive changes and contributions America has made, such as the industrial age and Roaring 20’s, but we tend to forget the dark past behind our beloved nation. Before the industrial age and Roaring 20’s, there was the time of slavery and Jim Crow, where the land of the free was a cruel and discriminatory place for people of color. Slavery ended in 1865, the Jim Crow Laws took over in 1877 until 1954, and we see America’s regret for their actions after these time periods, until the rise of mass incarceration and “The War on drugs” in 1971; soon afterwards, mass...
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...United States Drug Policy on Mexico and Colombia Drugs are not new to this Earth. Mankind has grown and consumed drugs for millennia. Marijuana, or more appropriately Cannabis, is indigenous to Central and South Asia, and has been consumed widely since 3000 B.C.E. (ElSohly 8). In more recent times (1938), Albert Hoffman synthesized Lysergic acid diethylamide, more commonly known as LSD, while searching for treatments for psychiatric diseases (Hoffman). Initially, many drugs were used in religious/spiritual functions. In several instances, the strong fibers of the Cannabis plant were used for building, much like jute, and the narcotic aspects of the plants were not even explored (ElSohly 8). However, today, drugs are frequently used recreationally, and as a result are highly profitable commodities. It is common knowledge that across the world, the vast majority of drugs are illegal or are restricted in some way. Almost nightly, proponents for the legalization of drugs, decriminalization of certain drugs, and the continued ban on drugs debate their positions through the media. This debate is a hot button issue that is almost entirely centered upon the views and policies of the world’s largest drug consumer, the United States of America (CIA Factbook). Governments and the media very often focus on drug consumption trends and drug flow into the United States, while largely ignoring Latin American perspectives and impacts on Latin America. Though drug production and drug use are major...
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