Illegal drugs are being misused by many people around the globe. Some of this illegal drugs have medicinal value but has addicting characteristics. This is the reason why they are being widely prohibited. In the United States is making a lot of movement to stop the usage and distribution of these substance. The declaration of War on Drugs was more than forty years ago by President Richard Nixon. However, there are many conflicts that weakens the War on Drugs movement of the United States (US). Military, US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and other US government departments are doing ways to fix the problem.
In June 1971, President Richard Nixon had declared a ‘War on Drugs’ but before this declaration, long before there was prohibition on drugs. The laws against drug before were specifically designated to immigrants. In 1870s, anti-opium laws were at Chinese. In early 1900s, anti-cocaine laws were at African-American in the South. Between 1910s and 1920s, anti-marijuana laws at Mexicans in the Midwest and in the Southwest. In 1960s, drugs became rampant to youths becoming symbols of youthful rebellion, social upheaval, and political dissent. Nixon had started a change in order to cure these social problems within his community (Drug policy Alliance).
Drug abuse was ‘public enemy number one’ said by President Nixon. He made the drug addiction as a national emergency and made him asked Capitol Hill for an initial $84 million for emergency measures (Vulliamy). Nixon had shown authoritative measures against drugs when he rejected the recommendations about marijuana decriminalization of possession and distribution of it. However, between 1973 and 1977, eleven states decriminalized marijuana possession of up to an ounce of it for personal use. This was one of the platforms of President Jimmy Carter. After few years, many parents became increasingly concerned about the high rate of teens using marijuana, thus, the proposal of total decriminalization of marijuana had been abandoned (Drug Policy Alliance).
Between 1980s and 1990s were the start of a long period of skyrocketing rates of incarceration. Because of the political hysteria within President Ronald Reagan’s administration, it has passed the draconian penalties in Congress and state legislatures that rapidly increased jail population. President Ronald Reagan enforced laws to widen and support the war on drugs. The number of people in jails for non-violent offences went up from 50,000 in 1980 to over 400,000 by 1997 because of President Reagan’s zero tolerance policies implemented within his administration. His movement was actually effective when the nation’s number one problem was about drugs when it polled sixty-four percent but went down in ten percent in less than a year (Drug Policy Alliance).
President Bill Clinton had a platform to cure the issue of high rate of incarceration to treatment but reverted to the drug war strategies by continuing to escalate it because of his Republican predecessors. He rejected the advices of removing the disparity of crack and powder cocaine and end of federal ban on funding for syringe access program. Yet, before he left his office, he said on an interview that there should be re-examination of entire policy of imprisonment and marijuana should be decriminalized (Drug Policy Alliance).
Even if there were policies within the drug war hysteria in 1980s and 1990s, there was a movement emerged opposing the war against drugs by them suggesting a new way of approach to drug policy. The Drug Policy Foundation has been founded and supported by many known officials, activists and professors. In 2000, the support group of Drug Policy Foundation built the Drug Policy Alliance. Because of this organization and their sensible drug policy, the War on Drugs now is now weakening. President George W. Bush was the last president who made some actions to support the war on drugs. He assigned John Walters as his drug czar, and Walters focused and zealously worked against marijuana. President Bush also used militarization in order to aid and enforce domestic drug laws. However, state level reforms slow down the growth of drug war (Drug Policy Alliance).
The War on Drugs is being diminished by the state laws. Early this year (2014), state of Colorado and Washington declared that marijuana have decriminalize the usage of marijuana in medicinal purposes. According to James L. Capra, the chief of operations of DEA, that there are more dispensaries of marijuana in Denver than there are Starbucks. Twenty-three states have laws protecting medicinal marijuana. DEA has been harassed by criticism because of their operations in states like Montana and California where the substance is now legal (RT).
There are federal laws remained marijuana or cannabis illegal but it conflicts with some of the states that enacted the decriminalization of marijuana. Yet, President Barack Obama said that his administration will not enforce federal marijuana restrictions on those states where the usage of marijuana has been decriminalized (RT). Supporting state medical marijuana laws is not the only support given by President Obama against War on Drugs but also reducing the disparity of crack and powder sentencing, and ending the ban on federal syringe access programs. Instead of providing more funds to police or military activity, Obama’s administration is more focusing and shifting to a health based approach (Drug Policy Alliance).
It is sad to know that some leaders are supporting the growth of drug usage of communities. Even the enforcers are under criticism because some of the military personnel are being paid to as servicemen becoming assassins by drug cartels. An example of this is Kevin Corley, Army first lieutenant stationed in Fort Carson, Co., conspired murder-for-hire with his own team of assassins for the Los Zetos drug Cartel in November, 2012. He was paid $50,000 and five kilogram of cocaine after he conducted the drug raid and killed people under contract. Moreover, Corley did tactically train members of cartel and also taught them how to steal weapons from the US military (RT).
There are many measures being made by some of the governments’ department like military and DEA. They’re doing their best in order to prevent drug abuse within the US. In military, they are removing personnel who are involved in drug trafficking. Military also helps the police to militarize their weapons. Also, paramilitary policing in the form of SWAT teams were created to aid policemen. The police department is only executing investigation against illegal drugs but with the help of SWAT, even the smallest quantity of drugs are being confiscated because of the execution of no search warrant. According to American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), seventy-nine percent of SWAT is being used to execute search warrants, mainly in drug investigations. Even if it seemed like an excessive militarization in policing, it is effective enough to remove even the tiniest drug that has been hidden in homes (Drug War Facts).
Even if President Obama is supporting the state laws regarding the legalization of marijuana usage, his administration has deployed counter narcotics strategy in southwest border. This action leads forty-one percent more seized drugs compared to previous years. Twenty-eight percent of DEA’s domestic agents are being allocated in southwest, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established its Latin American Southwest Border Section, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has deployed quarter of its operational personnel to that region. The agents in this region is now reaching from 21,000 to 18,500 working and stationed in the southwest region (Drug War Facts).
In order to support the counter narcotics program, President Obama’s administration allocated $1.2 billion budget to fund the military’s counter narcotic effort. Defense Department has been using the budget to collect, process, analyze, and disseminate information of drug trafficking; and to fund the actions taken in the domestic counter narcotic program that has been discussed above. This budget also helps counter narcotic efforts in Afghanistan (Drug War Facts). All of these are done by the US in order to prevent receiving any narcotics from any countries that are producing and distributing it to them.
Controlling the production of narcotics outside the US and preventing it to enter inside the country is actually a good idea. However, because of many state legalization of marijuana, DEA afraid that the other narcotics will soon to follow. DEA has released ‘Speaking Out: Against Drug Legalization’ in order to provide information about their experience regarding the narcotics. They’ve provided myths and facts about the narcotic activities, and its effects. Since DEA can’t make a full action of drugs because of some drug legalization, they are working with DOJ and the office of national Drug Control Policy in order to develop their strategy in all angles of drug use and trafficking (DEA 3).
It is sad to know that in the near future the narcotics will be soon available in stores as legalized drug. Many lives of youth and even the future generation will be put at risk because of the vain ideas of people making drugs not serious at all in order to prevent the high rate of incarceration and other violent movements to stop its distribution. However, we need to be aware, DEA is now making research in order to know further effective and proven prevention efforts. Government must provide treatment for those that need it and enforce drug laws which helps protect the citizens and the communities (DEA 3). DEA is correct about not having profit if legalizing the drugs itself because the dealers will have the profit while many people will spend money that will cause fatality and will cause many lost lives of youths.
According to Drug Policy Alliance, the progress is inevitably slow but there is unprecedented momentum of drug policy reform (Drug Policy Alliance). What they can see is the non-violence of arrest. They are just ignoring the future outcome of these vain movements and will soon find many parents that will complain against the numbers of youth that will their time and money to these illegal drugs. Democracy sometimes lead to chaos when wrong choices are being choose by people and the leaders are supporting these nonsense idea in order to win the trust of the people. However, DEA and some departments of government are doing their best in order to prevent future chaos of misuse and abuse of these drugs. We must support these movement of removing the illegal drugs in our society. We must not patronize it. Yes, there is medicinal value of other drugs like marijuana but we can find alternatives or remedies in replacement of these substances. This war will not end but it will if nobody will entertain these illegal substance.
Works Cited
DEA. Speaking Out: Against Drug Legalization. Drug Enforcement Agency, USA, n.d. Print.
Drug Policy Alliance. A Brief History of the Drug War. n.d. Web. 19 December, 2014. <http://www.drugpolicy.org/new-solutions-drug-policy/brief-history-drug-war>
Drug War Facts. Militarization of the Drug War. Common Sense for Drug Policy, n.d. Web. 19 December, 2014. <http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Military#sthash.OHFBXy0J.dpbs>
RT. DEA admits marijuana legalization ‘scares us’. Anonymous Nonprofit Organization, 16 January, 2014. Web. 19 December, 2014. <http://rt.com/usa/dea-against-marijuana-legalization-734/>
RT. Mexican drug cartels increasingly hire US military servicemen as assassins. Anonymous Nonprofit Organization, 06 August, 2013. Web. 19 December, 2014. <http://rt.com/usa/mexican-drug-cartels-military-074/>
Vulliamy, Ed. Nixon’s ‘war on drugs’ began 40 years ago, and the battle is still raging. The Observer. The Guardian, 24 July, 2011. Web. 19 December, 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/24/war-on-drugs-40-years>
