Term paper on War On Drugs

War On Drugs Essays

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Have we lost the War on Drugs?

The War on Drugs officially started in 1972 with President Nixon declaring that drug law enforcement was not strict enough. To enforce the laws of the original Harrison Act, a new and intensified plan was to be enacted. The war reached its peak during the Reagan and Bush administrations, in which $67 billion was spent in enforcement of drug laws. The plan had worked relatively well until near the end of the Bush administration and drug use overall was down. But the Clinton administration has not been as effective and it is time to determine what our next course of action will be regarding drug enforcement. Prisons are becoming increasingly overcrowded and many people are being labeled as “hard criminals” as a result of experimentation with soft drugs. There are many possible courses of action to take, but the best one is not very clear-cut.

America has always had a tremendous demand for illegal drugs. And simple economic principles will show that when there is a large demand for a product someone will supply it. It is just like any other precious commodity and follows the same theory of “buy low, sell high”. Foreign sources have historically supplied this great demand. Latin America’s drug lords have always been a very big problem for the United States. It can be virtually impossible to catch them in a position to make an arrest. The power and support that these drug lords receive can almost overwhelm authorities trying to stop them (Burdge 2).

One of the largest ever drug traffickers was Pablo Escobar Gaviria, he was so large and powerful, not even the court system could punish him when he was arrested and detained. The arresting officers were killed and nine different judges would not try the case due to threats on their lives. Then the official records disappeared from the courthouse and there could not be a trial. His net worth grew to almost $2 billion and he was helping the people of his native Colombia by building hospitals and public housing to gain public support. After nearly 20 years and at least 60 tons of imported Cocaine, he was finally stopped in a shootout at his house (Escobar 1).

Cocaine and marijuana usually come from the Caribbean and Latin America. Heroin has historically come from Southeast Asia and the Middle East. But now we have a greater problem than stopping imports, we must stop domestic production as well. Marijuana, Methamphetamines, and LSD are becoming more popular and can be produced in America as well as foreign countries. It is estimated that one third to one half of all Americas marijuana consumption comes from domestic sources (Falco 145).

Drugs in the United States have been a problem for the last 100 years. It is currently estimated that at least 77 million Americans have used and elicit drug at least once in their life (Department of Health 17). The United States’ government has always tried to cut off the primary supply from other countries. They have tried various different methods, which include “diplomacy, economic assistance, coercion, and military force” (Falco 146). Initially this course of action showed great promise. The most effective time for the drug war was during the late 1980s, after combating the tremendous cocaine use in the early 80s, the new strategies adopted by President Reagan were very effective. By following Ronald Reagan’s precedent for harsh treatment of drug offenders President George Bush had cut Cocaine use by 80% from 1985 to 1992 when he left office (Bennett 140).

Ronald Reagan made combating drug use one of his most important issues. He said that drug abuse was "one of the gravest problems facing [America]." And he said, “winning the war against drug abuse is one of the most important, the most urgent issues confronting us today” (NBC News). And as soon as his second term began he made a great effort to fulfill his promises. January 21st of 1984 marked the first day that changes were made in the Reagan administration regarding drugs. He essentially gave the FBI with DEA jurisdiction to enforce drug laws and investigate drug cases. He also made the FBI responsible for reporting what progress they had made during investigations, so they would be somewhat accountable for increasing or decreasing drug use. Reagan described it "giving the drug problem the kind of focus it needs." Also during Ronald Reagan’s term a “Office of Director of National and International Drug Operations and Policy” was formed by congress to further combat the drug problem. Two laws were passed in 1984, the Comprehensive Crime Act and the Narcotics Act of 1984. Congress also established a drug policy board “because it found that drug trafficking was estimated to be an $80 billion a year industry; only 5 to 15 percent of the drugs imported into the country were interdicted; and controlling the supply of drugs was thought to be a key to reducing the drug-related crime epidemic” (America’s Habit 2).

Congress and the Reagan administration did not stop there, in 1984 they continued to pass legislation pertaining to illegal drugs. They passed the Aviation Drug-Trafficking Control Act. Which would require Federal Aviation Association (FAA) administers to revoke any Air Certificates and Aircraft Registrations for anyone convicted of a drug-related crime. Some of the most important legislation that was passes was under the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984. This contained one of the most controversial narcotic related laws in history, which was the Comprehensive Forfeiture Act of 1984. This law revised previous criminal forfeiture acts. “Today few in the Congress or the law enforcement community fail to recognize that the traditional criminal sanctions of fine and imprisonment are inadequate to deter or punish the enormously profitable trade in dangerous drugs . . . Clearly, if law enforcement efforts to combat racketeering and drug trafficking are to be successful, they must include an attack on the economic aspects of these crimes. Forfeiture is the mechanism through which such an attack may be made”(America’s Habit 2). This law has been the source of many legal battles and led people to accuse the government of unlawfully confiscating their property and in many cases the people that lost property may not even be charged with a crime, let alone convicted of one (Bauman 34).

As 1984 continued more and more legislation was sent through congress. The Controlled Substance Registrant Act of 1984 was passed. This made it illegal to steal any amount of a controlled substance from a registrant. It also included the prohibition of certain prescription drugs, as a result of their limited medical use and their abuse on the streets. Another law called the Controlled Substances Penalties Act of 1984 was also passed; this made penalties stiffer, in particular, allowing up to 20 years and $250,000 fine for large amounts of certain drugs, such as LSD or PCP. It also allowed for the penalty to double for any person within 1000 feet of a school when caught distributing.

1986 brought about another very controversial drug related law. It was the enactment of mandatory minimums. Which has had many people furious about it since its enactment. Mandatory minimums mean that if a person is convicted of a certain crime they will have a minimum sentence to serve, with no exceptions. As a result many people feel they have been sentenced to harsh, where as their crime was not as severe as someone before them but they received the same sentence. This law also basically takes the power away from the judges and places it into the hands of the prosecutors, as they control what the defendant will be charged with and whether to accept a plea bargain or not. This somewhat defeats the purpose of a trial in many cases because if the defendant is found guilty the judge and jury have no part in determining how severe the defendant’s crime was, and they cannot set a sentence accordingly. The government claims that these laws will instill fear in many criminals, and they claim that the crime rates will go down as a result, but this theory has yet to hold up (Caulkins, 24).

Ronald Reagan ended his presidency in 1988 as one of the most effective drug fighters in history. He made great efforts and spent tremendous amounts of money on the drug war; he...

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