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Ronald Reagan War On Drugs Essay

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Betrayal, according to Dante, is the most lamentable of sins, punished in the deepest pits of hell in the 9th circle. Antenora is the subsection of the final circle where the sinners who were treacherous against their country remain, suffering eternally. Although widely deemed by many as being one of the best U.S. Presidents, one such president deserves to be in this section for his policies that had a detrimental effect on the country for decades to come, all under the pretense of saving the American youth. Because of his creation of the “War on Drugs” and the negative effects they had, Ronald Reagan deserves to be placed in the 9th circle of hell for betrayal against his country. On October 14, 1982, Ronald Reagan created the Office and National …show more content…

“We’re making no excuses for drugs- hard, soft, or otherwise. Drugs are bad, and we’re going after them. As I’ve said before, we’ve taken down the surrender flag and run up the battle flag. And we’re going to win the war on drugs”, he said in an address to the nation (Reagan, 1982). Tapping into the anxiety of concerned parents around the country, Reagan solidified the fear that drugs were the number one problem, and that something needed to be done about it. With the help of First Lady Nancy Reagan, the “Just Say No” policy was implemented, making the issue of drug abuse as simple as refusing drugs if they were ever offered to you. Drugs, according to him, were the pinnacle of immorality and one of the sole causes of issues plaguing the country, and the simple fix was more drug control policies that would imprison distributors and users. As a result of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, there became increased penalties …show more content…

Nonetheless, this is far from the truth. What the “War on Drugs” did accomplish, however, was mass incarceration, particularly of those in minority groups. One of the main pillars of the advocacy was the dangers of crack cocaine. Although pharmaceutically almost identical to powder cocaine, penalties against crack were dramatically more severe. “The 1986 bill created minimum sentencing laws with a 100:1 disparity between powder and crack cocaine, supported by untrue claims that crack is more dangerous and addictive…Possession of 5 grams of crack…would lead to a 5-year minimum sentence, and

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