ipl-logo

Criminalization Of Cocaine Essay

1306 Words6 Pages

According to Jon Miller, Stereotypes and prejudice towards the new cocaine consumers seemed to be a major factor in what changed public opinion about cocaine. Politicians and law enforcement officials began doing interviews with journalists discussing how workers were losing their minds, and committing acts of violence because of cocaine. The term “dope fiend” became a buzzword for bigoted law enforcement officials whom often used the term to represent a black man driven wild by cocaine. They made claims that cocaine could make black men incredibly strong. Other rumors were that cocaine caused black men to sexually assault white women and go on killing sprees. The police also took advantage of the situation by using it as an excuse to upgrade their firearms to .38 caliber pistols (Miller, 2013, p. 185). However, fear of violence and racism weren’t alone in the rationale for condemning cocaine. The use of cocaine among women brought up concerns regarding sexual morality. The use of cocaine by prostitutes was covered by the media, and …show more content…

Peru finally criminalized cocaine in 1948, and Bolivia did too by 1961, after handling the 1952 revolution (Gootenberg, 2012, p. 163). Peru wasn’t entirely successful as banning the coca leaf became problematic. Also, locals continued trafficking cocaine after it became illegal, daring to risk personal harm and death for the profits that could be made. Bolivia on the other hand rejected the request to criminalize coca leaves. The Bolivian government’s reasoning was that the coca leaves were entirely different from cocaine. Bolivian coca leaves would find their way into the cocaine market through the Peruvian traffickers (Miller, 2013, p. 188). According to Paul Gootenberg, illegalization of cocaine in South America facilitated the creation and spreading of a new culture rooted in the illicit cocaine trade (Gootenberg, 2012, p.

Show More
Related

Analysis Of The Stickup Kids

63 Words | 1 Pages

Provocative and eye-opening, The Stickup Kids urges us to explore the ravages of the drug trade through weaving history, biography, social structure, and drug market forces. It offers a revelatory explanation for drug market violence by masterfully uncovering the hidden social forces that produce violent and self-destructive individuals. Part memoir, part penetrating analysis, this book is engaging, personal, deeply informed, and entirely

Read More

Summary Of Andean Cocaine By Paul Gootenberg

947 Words | 4 Pages

Introduction Written and published in 2008 by Paul Gootenberg, History professor and Latin American studies at University of New York at Stony Brook, “Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global drug” retraces the pivotal stages of the illicit cocaine trafficking, starting from the boundless coca fields in Latin America to the chemistry laboratories in Europe up until the streets of U.S. cities. The aim of this book review is to provide the reader with a short but detailed insight of what is the main content of the book, by paying particular attention to its structure, objectivity and style. Scope & Organisation Adopting a meticulous chronological approach, Gootenberg describes the infamous and complex untold history of cocaine, analysing and

Read More

Randy Ribays Patron Saints Of Nothing Stereotypes

1129 Words | 5 Pages

Many people view drug users as bad or broken people and believe that killing them is the best choice for their country. Furthermore, people feel safer in their country when drug users are murdered because of the stigmas associated with it. The effect of these stereotypes is seen when Tito Danilo explains how drug users are viewed by the public: “‘He was paid’ Tito Danilo says, ‘For making the city ‘safer’. In most people’s eyes, Jun’s death meant one less drug pusher on the streets’” (283). This shows how drug users are viewed as dangerous making it okay to kill them to make the country safer when most people who get murdered are only suspected of using drugs.

Read More

Crack Cocaine: The Anti-Drug Abuse Act Of 1986

216 Words | 1 Pages

In the 1980’s the introduction of Crack Cocaine which was much more addictive to the users and more profitable for the drug dealers than Powder Cocaine. The prompted the administration to create Reagans War on Drugs which was supposed to make a major difference in the use of illegal drugs. By giving a much stiffer penalty to drug dealers for possession an even a moderate amount of illegal drugs. The fear of jail time was going be a deterrent to reduce the sale and illegal drug use. A minimum five year jail sentence would be handed out to someone caught with 500 grams of powder cocaine or with five grams of crack cocaine.

Read More

Black Crack Cocaine Research Paper

108 Words | 1 Pages

Let’s look at the punishment related to crack cocaine use offenses and how they are that much more severe than the punishment for illicit use of prescription opioids. Through this research we will come to realize that the only real difference between the two is the skin color of the people using them. With a rapid increase of deaths related to the misuse of pain relief prescription medications there is a frenzy in the “white community”. However, this same type of sympathy was unheard of during the black crack cocaine epidemic of the 1990s. Where the most aggressive drug sentencing laws to date were instituted, impacting minorities

Read More

African Americans Face A War On More Than One Front By Wes Moore

1081 Words | 5 Pages

As they continue to abuse these drugs, their money is going towards their addiction and not their monthly fees, increasing poverty. However, as poverty also increasing, it is more likely they will return to drugs to alleviate the stress, leading to a vicious, unnecessary and avoidable cycle that is near impossible to break. However, there may be evidence that the African Americans struggle with drugs is not entirely the fault of the community, but however a different group of people, the CIA. According to “Crack, the CIA and Media-All Complicit in Destroying Black Communities”, “… a journalist Webb first broke the story that for the better part of a decade

Read More

School Drug Policy 1970-1970

341 Words | 2 Pages

The school’s policies and procedures in regards to illegal drug use on campus have not been updated since 1970, when there was a more relaxed perspective of drug use. In 1970, cocaine was perceived as being used by the wealthy and the users and dealers were a lot younger (Abadinsky, 2014). This school’s policies and procedures haven’t been revised since “crack” was created in 1980 (Abadinsky, 2014). A lot has changed since 1970 and with new and different drugs in existence the level of violence has increased (Abadinsky, 2014).

Read More

Crime In The Bronx Essay

1247 Words | 5 Pages

South america is filled with over crowded streets. Slums are an over crowded area including the city and streets. There are very many drug problems in those slums because of the environment. Brazil is one of the top ten counties for cocaine usage. Bolivia now sits alongside the biggest consumers of illegal drug in the world.

Read More

Counterculture Of The 80's

890 Words | 4 Pages

The use of narcotics like cocaine, claimed many lives and earned widespread coverage by media and news. Following this Nancy Reagan began the “War on Drugs”, a campaign to combat pre-existing drug usage and prevent future

Read More

Cocaine In The 1880's

2297 Words | 10 Pages

Besides the success cocaine brought Coca cola, news articles in the late 1880’s were full of promise and enthusiasm when regarding cocaine. One articled claimed that “no modern remedy has been received by the profession (of medicine) with such enthusiasm, none has become so rapidly popular, so scarcely any one has shown so extensive a field of useful application as cocaine” (Iron County Register). Newspapers even began publishing articles that used Freud and Hammond as their sources, claiming that cocaine “is unquestionably of very great value and entirely harmless” (The McCook

Read More

Colombia War On Drugs

1321 Words | 6 Pages

Over the past 16 years, ‘Plan Colombia’ has been an ongoing process that’s constantly critiqued. The first goal of this initiative was to reduce the cultivation, processing, and distribution of illegal narcotics by 50 percent within six years of implementation. However, according to an October 2008 GAO report, this goal was not met. The GAO report highlights that from the years 2000 to 2006, the cultivation of opium poppy to produce heroin declined by 50 percent, however, the cultivation of coca increased by 15 percent and the production of cocaine increased by 4 percent.

Read More

The Decriminalization Of Drugs In The United States

1077 Words | 5 Pages

For example, agencies have been established with the sole intent to manage drug use and distribution and technology has been exclusively developed to detect the presence of drugs. Yet, evidence has indicated that such exhaustive efforts have been relatively unsuccessful. First, it has been assumed that drugs have perpetuated violence in society and based on this rationale, it was believed that by the suppressing the pervasiveness of drugs that incidents of violence would simultaneously diminish. However, reality has failed to align with the expectations that had initially been anticipated. Research findings have suggested that the decriminalization of drugs would result in a less adversarial drug market in which conflicts have tended to arise among dealers as well as between dealers and buyers (Common Sense for Drug Policy, 2007, p. 21).

Read More

Opioid Crisis Essay

571 Words | 3 Pages

Reports told us that not only was the access of the drug easier to get, but easier to buy since the price of cocaine started to drop (Discovering U.S. History, 1997). The National Institute on Drug Abuse said in 1985 that society may experience an extreme cocaine epidemic in the future, and it caused an outburst of panic in

Read More

Mexican Drug War Research Paper

779 Words | 4 Pages

The United States State Department estimates that 90% of cocaine arrive from the Mexican borders. Impressively many cartels operate methamphetamine labs and grow marijuana in many American states. In fact, seeking to stop the trade of illicit drugs the United States delivered $197 million to the Mexican government to fight against cartels. However, until the American citizens stop consuming cocaine the cause is hopeless. Although, the United States’ government has put impressive efforts to reduce the demand of cocaine, it remained the same as it used to be a few years ago.

Read More

Drug Enforcement And Punishment Approach

946 Words | 4 Pages

Nixon’s words quickly resulted in action. Budgets were cut from prevention and treatment programs while drug enforcement budgets increased rapidly. This policy shift to combat the drug epidemic set the stage for the modern “War on Drugs”. A new federal law enforcement agency was born in 1972, called the Office of Drug Abuse and Enforcement. This new government agency was filled with controversy from the beginning, because of its broad enforcement capabilities.

Read More

More about Criminalization Of Cocaine Essay

Related Topics

Open Document