War on Drugs Research Essay - 2406 Words

Drug use and abuse is an expensive problem in the United States, both financially and socially. The War on Drugs has been an ongoing effort to combat drug abuse, drug use and crime associated with the drug trade. Its a war without a clear enemy. Anything waged against a shapeless, intangible noun can never truly be won — President Clintons drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey said as much in 1996. (TIME 2009) Despite the trillions of dollars waged on the war on drugs and the countless arrest made related to drugs, it appears that we are fighting a losing battle. The drug battle is not a new concept it’s a battle that has been around since President Eisenhower coined the phrase â€Å"War on Drugs†. In 1954, President Eisenhower established the†¦show more content†¦In most high crime areas in big cities, law enforcement and judicial systems spend a majority of their day combating drug related crimes, whether staking out a dealer on the corner or convicting a d ealer for possession, too many of our tax dollars are wasted combating drug crimes. Over half of the prison inmates incarcerated between 2009 -10 are there due to drug related offenses, costing an average of 6.2 billion dollars annually. And more than half of those were non-violent offenses (sales, possessions, and attempt to distribute). As noted in the textbook, Drugs and Society, Chapter 3; proponents contend that if drugs were legalized, violence and crime would become less. Many crimes such as robbery, assault and murder are often linked to drugs. Perpetrators, rob, steal and kill for the purpose of buying drugs. However, if drugs were legal any and all profits made via the sale of a drug would directly benefit the economy and stimulate growth for health reform, funding new medical research and abuse prevention programs. The legalization of drugs would require full governmental control of controlled substances. Just as with alcohol and tobacco government would control age lim its, designated amounts and warnings. Critics of legalization believe that by legalizing drugs the government sends a negative message to youths that drug useShow MoreRelatedDrug War Research Paper1354 Words   |  6 Pageshardworking. Students are also used to being surrounded by people of different races and cultures, so equality and tolerance is a value students generally hold. Many in this demographic popularly are fans of soft drugs, such as marijuana. It is assumed that this demographic looks down on the drug war. Generally students are well informed as to what is going on in the news. They’d have some working knowledge of the topic. Overall, this demographic recognizes (myself included) that they are the future ofRead MoreThe Flawed Drug Policy of America1691 Words   |  7 PagesAmericas Flawed Drug Policy Introduction: As a major policy issue in the United States, the War on Drugs has been one of the most monumental failures on modern record. At a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars, thousands of lives lost and many thousands of others ruined by untreated addiction or incarceration, Americas policy orientation concerning drug laws is due for reconsideration. Indeed, the very philosophical orientation of the War on Drugs and of the current drug policy in the UnitedRead MoreThe War On Drugs And The United States956 Words   |  4 PagesThe War on Drugs has become an epidemic today that has afflicted in the United States and the United Nations; both are influenced by international drug laws which preserve the criminal justice system. 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However, on April 9, 2015, President Obama publicly announced that the policyRead MorePublic Health And Academic Writing980 Words   |  4 Pages Although it is imperative for an educated person to comprehend research and writing in his or her particular field of study, a truly informed individual must also possess the ability to understand the variety of ways that knowledge is made in other disciplines. Having a broad contextual background to draw from will allow a person to make deeper realizations when reading work shared by fellow practitioners of the same field. One academic area outside of those I am most familiar with is public healthRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1436 Words   |  6 Pagesboth a social and political issue. As of curre ntly the direction of most debates about marijuana concern drug liberalization as the nation gets more and more progressive with marijuana. Quite recently, a few states have went forward and legalized marijuana for recreational use, and even Canada has taken its first step towards marijuana legalization. According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan organization that provides information about the issues, attitudes, and trendsRead MoreThe Effects Of Substance Use And Incarceration894 Words   |  4 Pagesbattle against substance use has been a misguided, ill conceived, expensive, and discriminatory attempt which produced inauspicious results. The War on Drugs and Deinstitutionalization are two such attempts. This paper will analyze how these policy blunders have formed a strong association between substance use and incarceration, how current practice and research is attempted to dismantle these relationships, as well as their clinical and policy implicat ions. Analysis of Substance Use and Incarceration