The War On Drugs

“Over 40 year ago president nixon, Declared Drug abuse public enemy number one, starting an unprecedented global Campaign, the war on drug.

The American “War on Drugs” war created to keep an exorbitant amount of people behind bars, and in a subservient status. First, America has a storied history when it comes to marijuana use. However, within the last 50 years legislation pertaining to drug use and punishment has increased significantly. In the modern era, especially hard times have hit minority communities thanks to these drug laws. While being unfairly targeted by drug laws and law enforcement, minorities in America are having a difficult time trying to be productive members of society.

Nelson George states that “Gangsta rap is direct by- product of crack explosion. Unless you grasp that connection nothing else that happened in the hip hop’s journey to national scapegoat will make sense. This is not a chicken-or-the-egg riddle —first came rocks, then gangsta rap” (136). To prove his point he examines the connection between drug culture of the inner city areas and the hip hop music. The money collected from illegal drug deals spent on recordings of gangsta rap music. George says “Suspicion of women, loyalty to the crew, adoption of a stone face in confronting the world, hatred of authority—all major themes of gangsta rap-owe their presence of lyrics and impact on audiences to the large number of African-American men incarcerated in the ‘90s” (138). I agree with his statement that gangsta rap is a directed by- product of crack explosion, because social and racial issues for instance drug dealing influencing the lyrics of music and this explosion of heroin and crack in communities gave birth to gangsta rap.

Chuck D of Public Enemy stated, “City by city, this white tornado was swirling on; just wiping out black America. We said we had to do something to make this seem very unattractive to a young audience.” Public Enemy’s in your face track, “Night of the Living Baseheads”, became an anti-crack epic. It was consensuses, among the group, that crack cocaine was appalling. “4, 5 o’clock in the mornin’, wait a minute y’all/ The fiends are fiendin’/ Day to day to day they say no other way/ This stuff is really bad, I’m talkin’ ‘bout … BASS” (Public Enemy).

“Over 40 year ago president nixon, Declared Drug abuse public enemy number one, starting an unprecedented global Campaign, the war on drug.

In the past forty years, the United States has spent over $2.5 trillion dollars funding enforcement and prevention in the fight against drug use in America (Suddath). Despite the efforts made towards cracking down on drug smugglers, growers, and suppliers, statistics show that addiction rates have remained unchanged and the number of people using illegal drugs is increasing daily (Sledge). Regardless of attempts to stem the supply of drugs, the measure and quality of drugs goes up while the price goes down (Koebler). Now with the world’s highest incarceration rates and greatest illegal drug consumption (Sledge), the United States proves that the “war on drugs” is a war that is not being won.

Nixon’s drug war, however, was a mere skirmish in comparison to the colossal efforts launched by the Ronald Reagan administration in the 1980s. Formally announced by President Ronald Reagan in 1982, the War on Drugs was marked by deep public concern, bordering on hysteria,, towards the nation’s drug problem. Under the leadership of President Reagan, the nation focused unprecedented energy and resources towards eliminating illicit drug use and trafficking.” (pp.

According to “The Apocalypse Now : The Lost War on Drugs”, the United States federal government began to become tough on “crime” especially drug offenses in the 1970’s under President Richard Nixon. Nixon stated that “drugs were public enemy #1” and that he was going to be tough on this crime. As a result, state level government began to create policies that were strict on drug offenses causing minimal sentencing for minor drug offenses. Instead of going after the root of the problem which was preventing drugs from entering the country, these laws targeting low income communities with predominantly black and Latino residents. In addition, these merciless laws were the cause of the significant amount of people, specifically men of color, in prison during the 1980’s “war on drugs” in the United States.

The Executive Office clearly faced the daunting task of stemming the tide of a growing crime rate that included and alarming rate of homicides. Uniquely spearheaded by the intent of creating an environment that is both safe for the public and drug free. Previous Presidential policies have utterly failed. Unfortunately, the War on Drugs targeted the drug user and drug distributor (dealer) in the same manner and the group that was effected the most was the African American communities. The systemic limitations that the oppressed and disenfranchised minority populations operate in on a daily basis is biased; and the War on Drugs racialized the law enforcement and criminal justice system approach to litigation for nonviolent drug offenders. Specifically targeting drugs that are most likely to be used by people of color, marijuana and crack cocaine. Statistically significant results yield that from 1990 to 2002 eighty-two percent of all illegal controlled substance related incarcerations

During the 1960’s drugs became a symbol of “youthful rebellion, social upheaval, and political dissent”, the government quickly stepped into action and by June 1971, President Nixon declared a “war on drugs”. The size and presence of federal drug control agencies and drastic measures such as mandatory sentencing and no-knock warrants. Marijuana was placed under the most restrictive category of drugs and the war on drugs was underway (A Brief History of the Drug War, Bureau of Justice Statistics).

The drug war was primarily a partisan show of force Ronald Reagan and George Bush Senior and subsequent Presidential administrations have used to feign concern about public safety, crime prevention, and the needs of the victims of drug users. While it was widely reported (Ronald Reagans’ son and former President George Bush Senior’s son former President George Bush Junior were smoking weed and snorting cocaine) (4). While the “War on Drugs” were based on political motives, (that is not the full story) as the “war on drugs” in hindsight proved itself to be a “war” on black and brown

As many African-Americans were rejoicing their long and strenuous journey, a new plan was afoot for them: the war on drugs. The war on drugs is unequivocally the biggest and most durable war this country has ever fought against its own citizens. Like any other wars the United-States has engaged in, the war on drugs is remarkably different; it was fought internally, and intended to target a specific group, people of color. Their communities, houses and churches were flooded with law enforcements, constantly checking for illegal possession of drugs. They were branded criminals and were continuously being thrown in jails or prisons, with harsh and lengthy sentences imposed on them. And once they were released, many are saddled with huge debts

The United States government has been wasting millions of dollars each year on a worthless war that cannot be won. This war is explained in detail by author Art Caden in their essay “Let’s Be Blunt” about the United State war on drugs. The war on drugs began in 1971 under the order of President Richard Nixon, and it was one of the worst decisions he ever made. It has been nothing but a waste of government funding, time, and manpower that can only be described as a dismal failure and should be repealed or at the very least medical marijuana should be made legal.

On June 17th, 1971, President Richard Nixon declared drug abuse to be “America’s Public Enemy #1” in a press conference in which he called for an “all out offensive” against this enemy, an initiative that would later be known as America’s War on Drugs. By giving this speech, thus starting “The War on Drugs,” President Nixon created what would eventually become one of the most catastrophic failures in United States political history. Analysis of the historical events surrounding Nixon’s declaration reveal ulterior motives behind the initiative, providing context to the reasons for its failure, which were based short term in its moral failure, and long term in its failure of efficiency and results. The War on Drugs has lasted for generations and continues to be responsible for policies that criminalize non-violent drug offenders at the expense of taxpayers, contributing to a devastating mass incarceration dilemma in the United States that perpetuates a disproportionate marginalization of low-class, particularly African American citizens.

Police seems to gain a lot by sustaining the “war on drug”. Drugs are a significant force in police deviance, with as many as half of all convictions in police corruption cases involving drug-related crimes. Corruption in law enforcement, courts, and corrections can be explained through egoism selfish desires for personal gain. In other cases, however, corruption might be better understood as stemming from socially hedonistic incentives; that is, a desire to produce good consequences for others. In their discussion of drug related police corruption, for instance, Kappeler, Sluder, and Alpert describe four types of corruption. Use corruption occurs where police officers use illegal drugs. In one study, as many as 20 percent of officers admitted to smoking marijuana. Economic corruption occurs where officers use their power and discretion for personal monetary gain, such as by keeping drug money confiscated from offenders. Police violence may occur in the context of extracting confessions or information from drug suspects. Subjugation of a defendant’s rights occurs where police commit perjury or plant drugs on a suspect in the interest of obtaining a confession or getting a conviction(Williams & Arrigo, 2008).