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Richard Nixon's Drug Crisis In The United States

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My home state of Minnesota is currently dealing with what Richard Nixon states was “public enemy number one”, and this is a drug crisis, in particular an opioid crisis that has taken the lives of 395 Minnesotans just in 2016. What is the current government doing to help solve this problem? They declared it a national public health crisis but other than that they have pushed for stricter drug control like Nixon did back during his presidency. Nixon started the war on drugs to help him win his presidential campaign and it has been something that has had negative effects to Americans ever since. The War On Drugs has been a failure to the American people through its adverse effect on African American communities, its establishment of unjust mandatory …show more content…

The drug trade is sometimes the only company or business to work for in extremely impoverished communities and the U.S government is punishing people for working for the only business in their area, and their only way to acquire a stable income. If drugs like marijuana were not so relentlessly hunted by the local police and DEA, the U.S could see a lot of people in these communities turn their illegal drug hustles into legitimate businesses leading to less violence in these communities and less people falling victim to a system meant to protect them like Dennis. Michelle Alexander further proves the disproportionate effect the War on Drugs has had on black communities when she compares numbers between pre-slavery America and the current America she sees when she looks around. Michelle has a Law degree from Stanford and has served for several years as director of the Racial Justice Project. She proves her prowess and knowledge in the subject of racial disparity in the United states when she states “More African American men are in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before …show more content…

It has called for the establishment of “unjustly harsh” mandatory minimum sentencing laws, and it has done the exact opposite of its original intended purpose. It has not helped the American people it has crippled them, it has crippled our economy, and it has been straining our police departments with dealing with nonviolent drug crimes. The War on Drugs has been a failure to the American people for its effect on Blacks, its creation of unjust sentencing laws, and its inability to achieve what it was meant

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During the presidency of Nixon, he was able to come up with a domestic policy that seemed to have helped the United States and prove effective. Economically, he was very involved especially with trying to dettach the U.S. dollar from the gold currency to utilize the dollar to its maximum potential. He also removed excise taxes which basically put more money into people 's wallets. He also put a 10% tax on all imports into the U.S., this helped boost the economy.

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In his article, “Toward a Policy on Drugs,” Elliot Currie discusses “the magnitude and severity of our drug crisis” (para. 21), and how “no other country has anything resembling the American drug problem” (para. 21). The best way to describe America’s drug problem is that it is a hole continuously digs itself deeper. America’s drug issues were likely comparable to other country’s at one point in time, but today it can be blamed on the “street cultures” (para. 21) that continue to use and spread the use of illegal drugs. These street cultures transcend the common stereotype of drug users, such as low income communities in cities or welfare recipients, and can be found in every economic class and location. They are groups of people who have

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Michelle Alexander - The New Jim Crow In “The New Jim Crow”, author Michelle Alexander argues that the war on drugs is just an excuse to target African Americans and keep millions of black people in poverty or in jail. Alexander thinks that racism is still very prevalent in today’s world. She believes that the criminal justice system uses the system of mass incarceration to control black people and exclude them from the political process. Many African American people are not allowed to vote because they have gone to jail and they are labeled felons for life.

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Although they both write about criminal justice, Michelle Alexander’s book mostly focuses the statistics on African Americans who are in prison and on War on Drugs in the United States. For example who would go to prison for having a little bit of marijuana a tall, innocent African American male ? or an average size , troublemaker white male? and many of us would believe an African American because based on his race right?

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Richard Nixon implemented the Drug Enforcement Committee also known as the DEA in 1973, to combat the transport and trafficking of drugs and to enforce drug control. Seven divisions in the organization report to the administrator, and they all work in harmony to fight the drug trade. A big problem the DEA is currently facing is the escape of notorious drug lord, Joaquin Guzmán, also known as “El Chapo.” El Chapo is the famed leader of the Sinaola cartel, which his uncle was Pedro Avilés Pérez pioneered. He is the most wanted man in Mexico and the DEA is currently offering a reward of five million USD for information leading to his arrest.

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Alexander’s book introduction addresses some of the injustices that minorities especially African Americans have to endure under the war on drugs. However, Alexander also points out that drug crimes are relatively low compared to other countries meaning that there is no correlation at all between rising efforts on law enforcement funding and declining crime rates. Alexander comes to the conclusion that the current criminal justice system is set up to keep social control over minorities. The New Jim Crow assignment has a total of twenty six questions.

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Also, Michelle Alexander discusses the statistics of how black men are more likely to face harsh punishment for drug charges while white men get a mild reprimand. She states, “In some states, black men have been admitted to prison on drug charges at rates twenty to fifty times greater than those of white men.” Alexander also writes that America has the highest rate of incarceration in the nation; the majority incarcerated inmates are racial or ethnic minorities. She also adds that mass incarceration is seen as a justice issue when it really is a racial and criminal justice issue.

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I too was shocked throughout the film many times, specifically because so many people were unaware of the Current 'War on Drugs. ' Either people associated the term in regards to a third world country, or like one women stated “I haven 't heard that since the 80 's.” The film stated that the term was born under Nixon 's presidency in the 60 's and 70 's, and while he did some progressive thing in regards to treatment, during his second reelection he digressed, and used harsh penalties. This film brought up some deeply disturbing facts, especially with the large number of non violent criminals behind bars because of such strict drug laws. Also it 's no secret that our nation jails it 's population the most compared to other regions in the

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It does not reduce drug use rates and drug related arrests have steadily increased since its inception. The Drug War has in many respects had an opposite effect of

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The War on Drugs is racist in both its application and design. Alexander studies the system of mass incarceration which is used to control criminals both in and out of prison. Mass incarceration utilizes the War on Drugs as a strategy to control people of color and remove them from the political process. Alexander argues that the War on Drugs and mass incarceration constitutes a “rebirth of caste” in America. Just like slavery and Jim Crow segregation, mass incarceration places people of color into discriminatory positions within our society for

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While incarceration plagues the nation on a great scale, its effects are palpable in varying levels throughout different communities. For years, African Americans have been targeted in various ways, making the black race “inferior” to the white race. A period in history that greatly exemplified the targeting of this group of people is known as the War on Drugs. The span of time known as the “War on Drugs” started in the late 1970’s and unofficially ended in the early 2000’s, though many argue that it is still on ongoing problem with palpable and current ramifications. This “war” may have been justified by rhetoric like “ending the drug epidemic”, or “keeping our children safe”, when in reality, it was a notion that incarcerated people of color and damaged their communities.

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Marijuana in the state of Texas Marijuana is a word that often comes with a negativity. However, it seems to be a current hot topic these days. In 2012 Colorado legalized marijuana and has caused quite a commotion. Many citizens are left wondering if their state will be next to legalize the drug. The state of Texas has strongly been against the legalization of marijuana for years.

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