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War On Drugs Legislation

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The war on drugs policy created a mass hysteria on drug and placed an instrumental fear in society. Not to say drugs are not a problem, However, incarcerating a person for one time drug offenses for years did not create an answer. Throwing an addict in prison for a lifetime for possession charge has only increased the problem. It continues to turn out hardened criminal by the time they are released. Statistics and research will explain what the War on Drugs Legislation was as well as, clarify why it does not work. Background Drug problems have been around for thousands of years. According to the Drug Policy Alliance in 2017, “The first anti-opium laws in the 1870s were directed at Chinese immigrants. The first anti-cocaine laws, in the …show more content…

The biggest impact it had was the direct impact it had on the susceptible, poor and generally excluded groups, including ethnic minorities and women. Not only has the war on drug proven ineffective it has created overwhelming the courts, overcrowding the prisons, intensifying health problems, and targeting poor and minimalist users. According to Penal Reform International (PIR) 2013, “In the USA, for example, approximately 40 per cent of all drug arrests in 2005 were for simple possession of marijuana, and in the 1990s marijuana possession arrests accounted for 79 per cent of the growth in drug arrests. The majority of small-scale drug offenders have no history of violence or high-level drug selling activity. (Pg. 1) The is a substantiated link between drug abuse and poverty and charging only further impoverishes them by limiting their access to higher education, access to work, housing and social …show more content…

However, of the approximate 10 million people who are currently imprisoned globally, it has been estimated that at least one million people are in prison for a drug related offence. This figure indicates that the number of people criminalized as a consequence of the 50 year ‘war on drugs’ goes into the millions. At the same time, there is no evidence that punitive enforcement measures significantly deter the use of drugs.” (PIR, 2013, Pg. 1). In short, the War on Drugs Legislation not only did not work it amplified the problem. Rather than seeking a solution to the setback and trying to reform drug criminalization, Congress continues to suppress the minorities. Drugs continue to be hard on society and cause both economical and societal problems. In an attempt to stop addiction, Nixon and Regan only fueled it. Addiction needs to be addressed in a therapeutic manner by seeking solutions to the trauma behind the use. To but it briefly, The War on Drugs Legislation was made clear on when it started and why it does not

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I believe that ending the War on Drugs would result in several crucial benefits to society. The most important of those is that it would help African-Americans withstand oppression by the United States government. If drug abuse was treated as a public health issue rather than a crime, the results would include significant benefits to the black population, a decrease in discriminatory legislation and law enforcement, more welcoming and effective treatment for addicts, the reduction of criminal activity associated with illicit drugs, and a surplus of money and resources for the government to better direct. While the Civil Rights Movement of the sixties made a great deal of necessary progress in fighting discrimination and racism, the beginning of the 1970s did not mark the end of oppression for

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In the opinion of many knowledgeable experts in the field The legalization of drugs offers a more viable solution to end this long fought war between the law and consumers. The war on drugs began when President Nixon declared war on illegal drug trading around the U.S. in 1971. This long fought war will end the day that we stop fighting it with the same strategies we have pursued and eventually legalizing drugs will boost our economic drastically and better our public safety.

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