War on Drugs
Hi everyone! In this blog post, I'll be talking about the war on drugs. I feel that a lot of people do not know about this topic, so I will just be outlining the facts of what happened and how it affects people today. This post is related to my last blog post about the American opioid crisis, so if you haven't already, give it a read.
Definition:
The War on Drugs is a phrase used to refer to a government-led initiative that aimed to stop illegal drug use, distribution, and trade by dramatically increasing prison sentences for both drug dealers and users. The war on drugs was lead by Richard Nixon, the president at the time and a well-known criminal, in the 1970's. Nixon's administration classified cannabis as a schedule 1 drug - on a level with heroin, and he formed the drug enforcement agency in 1973.
The Anti-Drug Abuse Act:
In 1986, Ronald Reagan was able to pass the Anti-Drug Abuse Act through Congress. This legislation directed 1.7 billion dollars to fund the War on Drugs. Moreover, it established 29 new and mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders.
What could be the underlying motives of the War on Drugs?
During a 1994 interview, John Ehrlichman, President Nixon's domestic policy chief, provided information on the War on Drugs that insinuated the War on Drug campaign had underlying motives. Ehrlichman explained that the Nixon campaign had two enemies: "the antiwar left and black people". This comment led many people to question if Nixon's intentions in advocating for drug reform had racist intentions.
Racist ideas warped American drug policies. Prison populations heavily increased as African Americans were targeted by law enforcement despite using drugs as similar rates to white Americans.
In his effort to "make American great again", Reagan enlisted his wife Nancy. Nancy orchestrated the "Just Say No" program, which became the foundation for her legacy. However, this program failed in the end.
Dialing it back:
Public support for the war on drugs has decreased in recent decades. Some Americans and policymakers feel the campaign has been ineffective and has led to a racial divide. According to the Pew Research Center, between 2009 and 2013, 40 states have taken steps to soften their drug laws by lowering penalties and shortening mandatory minimum sentences. The recent legalization of marijuana in several states and the District of Colombia has also led to a more tolerant view on recreational drug use.
However, communities of color are still being targeted by drug policies that unfairly prey on them and contribute to massive numbers of incarcerated people. Not only are minorities arrested at greater rates, but the sentences they receive are, on average, 20%-40% longer than their white counterparts. Also, Black Americans are nearly four times as likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white Americans even though roughly the same amount of marijuana is used across all races.
Below is an infographic detailing the impact of drug laws on black and brown communities:
Approaches to combat the War on Drugs:
These are not definite solutions to stop or combat the War on Drugs but are suggestions as to how we, as a collective society, can do this. We can educate people from a young age about how different substances affect people differently and go into more detail about what kinds of drugs are available. We can also vote for legislators who are advocates for decriminalizing marijuana. This Quora thread I found details more solutions if you are interested in reading more: https://www.quora.com/What-can-we-do-to-stop-the-war-on-drugs.
Sources:
3. https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/
4. https://www.aclu.org/other/race-war-drugs
5. https://www.drugpolicy.org/resource/drug-war-mass-incarceration-and-race-englishspanish
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