Drug WarsFighting A Losing Battle

Thesis: War on Drugs is counterproductive

• Soaring incarceration rates; racial disparities• Creates violent but wealthy underground market; funds

terrorism; corruption of law-makers and enforcers• Costs associated could be put to better, more productive

use• Drugs are more readily available today

and are more potent• Users are less likely to seek treatment for

fear of arrest• Spread of HIV through unsanitary needles• Violation of civil liberties

Early Legislative History

• 1875 - California passes law against opium, popular amongst Chinese

• 1883 - Congress uses constitutional power to "lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises" to heavily tax imported opium

• 1906 - Pure Food and Drug Act requires all patent medicines containing drugs be labeled

• 1914 - Harrison’s Narcotic Act regulates and taxes importation and distribution of opium and coca leaves

• 1922 - creation of Federal Narcotics Control Board

• 1930 - Federal Bureau of Narcotics created within the Treasury Department

• mid-1930s - new machinery allows hemp fiber to be more easily and economically separated from the plant

• By 1937, 46 of 48 states have laws against marijuana; Congress passes Marijuana Tax Act

War Declarations• late-1960s - recreational drug use rises among white,

middle class• 1968 – Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs founded

and oversight moves from Treasury to Justice Department• 1970 - Controlled Substances Act shifts focus from

taxation to interstate commerce and creates “schedules”; Narcotics Treatment Administration founded – crime in D.C. decreases by 41%

• 1971 - soldiers in Vietnam become addicted to heroin; Nixon declares “War on Drugs”

• 1973 – Drug Enforcement Administration is established, consolidating agents from BNDD, the CIA, Customs

• 1976 – Carter and his drug czar campaign for legalization of marijuana

• early-1980s – cocaine trafficking becomes prominent, violence ensues

• 1984 – Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign focuses on white, middle class children

Modern Artillery• 1985 - crack epidemic hits New York

• 1986 - Reagan signs Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which appropriates $1.7 billion to fight the crisis and creates mandatory minimum sentencing

• 1989 - Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) created under Bush, drug czar campaigns “denormalization”

• 1993 - NAFTA, signed by Clinton, greatly increases legitimate trade at U.S. / Mexico border, increasing the burden on Customs

• 1995 - U.S. Sentencing Commission recommends revising mandatory minimums, citing racial disparities in crack v. cocaine; for the first time in history, Congress overrides their recommendation

• 2003 - Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act signed: targets ecstasy, meth-amphetamines, and predatory drugs

• 2009 - drug czar announces end to War on Drugs rhetoric, although no major policy or budget changes; Obama administration announces it will no longer bust clinics that legally dispense medical marijuana

Hostages and Casualties

Incarceration Drug-related Homicides

• Over 10,500 executions in Mexico since beginning of President Felipe Calderon’s term on Dec 1, 2006

• Someone is arrested for violating a drug law every 17 seconds, over 1.6 million this year

• Drug offenders make up about 60% of total prison population; this is a 1200% increase since 1980

• US Population v. Prison population disenfranchises blacks and Hispanics (blacks make up only 12% of U.S. population and 44% inmates)

• US imprisons more of its population than any other industrialized nation

ECONOMICS

• According to American Corrections Association, states spend over $6 billion per year to imprison drug offenders

• Drug trade is a $400 billion per year industry• U.S. Federal government spends more every

year to combat drug trade, approximately $18 billion for 2009; states spent about $27 billion for 2009

• Related criminal and medical costs in the US total over $67 billion per year

Proponents of Prohibition: Counter-Arguments

• “If the international community cooperates, we can and will win” (so far other governments have not fully cooperated)

• “Demand can be reduced through raising price and lowering purity” (this has, empirically, been proven to the opposite)

• “We are trying to fight $400 billion business on a $100 million budget; we need more money” (as shown, the more we spend, the greater the problem has gotten)