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War on

Drugs

1969 - present

The War on Drugs was the United States’ attempt to refute the large amount of illegal drug use that began around 1970. [1] In general, there was a large jump in the harshness of penalties when it came to illegal drug use. There was stronger enforcement of rules and more frequent incarceration for violation of illegal drug policies.

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President Richard Nixon expressed that the illegal drug use was “public enemy number one.” [1] President Ronald Reagan came along ten years following the beginning of the War on Drugs. During his reign as President, he was sure to make taking down illegal drug use one of his main focuses.

 

This resulted in the imprisonment rates rising tremendously. The incarceration numbers rose from about 50,000 to 400,000 from 1980 to 1997. [2] The federal and state authorities were on a complete hunt for illegal drug use.

This made the local police units become pressured into having results to show results of progression. The progression was shown by the amount of arrests made relating to drug use. Law enforcement decided to target the neighborhood that were poor and occupied people of color. In turn, the amount of people of color in prison rose to a high number fairly quickly.

 

The rate of doing time in prison when arrested on a drug charge increased over 400 percent between the years of 1980 and 1990. [2] To help the cause of the War on Drugs the United States Congress passed an “Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986.” This Act became a donation of 1.7 billion dollars to the War on Drugs mission. The Act also created different mandatory minimum prison sentences for each kind of drug charge. [1]

Finding Freedom

During the War on drugs it became clear to the public that there was a racial divide within this attack. Most people that were supporting the movement began to take back their encouragement. Around 80 percent of the crack cocaine users were African-Americans, which meant the imprisonment rates for blacks alone skyrocketed.

 

President Bill Clinton made it clear that he wanted to try implementing treatment plans for those that are caught using illegal substances. During his presidency however, he denied the opportunity to change mandatory sentences of the different drug charges. [3] The U.S. never considered the lives that were being affected by the harsh penalties of drug use. People were not given the appropriate chance to change their lives around for the better. The mission was to fill the jails with minorities and deny them of a fair chance at freedom.

Bibliography

  1. Britannica, T. E. (2018, December 05). War on Drugs. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/war-on-drugs

  2. Bobo, L. D. & Thompson, V. (2006). Unfair by Design: The War on Drugs, Race, and the Legitimacy of the Criminal Justice System. Social Research: An International Quarterly 73(2), 445-472. Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved April 30, 2019, from Project MUSE database.

  3. A Brief History of the Drug War. (n.d.). Retrieved April, 2019, from http://www.drugpolicy.org/issues/brief-history-drug-war

  4. Zelizer, J. E. (2017, December 07). Will Richard Nixon's Three-Pronged Defense Work for Trump? Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/12/will-trumps-adoption-of-richard-nixons-defense-strategy-work/547682/

  5. President Nixon tells a White House news conference in 1973 that he will not allow his legal counsel, John Dean, to testify on Capitol Hill in the Watergate investigation, 1973. By Charles Tasnadi. Credit AP Photos.

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