Preview

War on Drugs - A legal and an economic analysis

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3574 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
War on Drugs - A legal and an economic analysis
War on Drugs – A legal and economic analysis
Place in some charts, pictures, statistics from the links file to support facts. Start introduction by defining drugs etc. and then move on to the war on drugs and its dynamics. Furthermore, mention the stance and thesis and finally, present points in favor of legalization and objections (along with rebuttals) to it. Then, conclusion and bingo.

Intro:

In all of human history, no society has ever been drug free, nor will any be so in the future.
Drugs are not going to disappear; the challenge is to mitigate the harm they cause.
Club in New York City.
I said I would talk about the "War on Drugs."
That was a phrase first popularized?as I recollect? by President Reagan, and then made the cornerstone of George Bush's first address to the nation

1998 – UN
But the desire to alter one's state of consciousness, and to use psychoactive drugs to do so, is nearly universal-and mostly not a problem. annabis and opium have been grown throughout much of the world for millennia. T In all of human history, no society has ever existed that was completely free from harmful and threatening drugs, and it seems difficult to see a drug-free world in the future. Drugs are not a new invention but in reality drugs like opium are being produced in the world since milleniums. More drugs are produced every year because of their popular demand and ability to make a person change his state of consciousness.Because of their addictive characteristics, consumption of drugs like cocaine and heroin today is roughly the same as it was decades ago, meanwhile their overall production has increased, despite prohibitive changes in law and policy throughout the world regarding selling and buying of drugs. The phrase “War on Drugs” was used by president Bush in his first address to the nation, but the phrase gained its popularity in US long ago, during Reagan’s presidency in 1980s. The formal prohibition on drugs

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Clemmitt, M. (2007, January 5). Prison health care. CQ Researcher, 17, 1-24. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/…

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the article entitled “Would Legalized Drugs Produce a Zombie Nation?”(Cederblorn and Paulsen, 332 - 334) written by Stephen Chapman. The author (Stephen Chapman) provides a clear details and analogy of the drug use and abuse in the American society. The article gave a picture of a theoretical view where the use of banned drugs is legitimized by the United States government. The unbelievable situation of having a legitimate way of circulating the proscribed drugs would create a lot of chaos in the communities and society in general.…

    • 1127 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Fbn Vs Anslinger

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages

    A year after the stock market crashed, 1930, and president Hoover is in office, America is in a state of existential crisis and people are looking for answers and distractions. The Treasury Department created the Federal Bureau of Narcotics under Harry J. Anslinger who directed the agency until 1962 “and molded America’s drug policy” (The United States War on Drugs). Anslinger who was also a prohibitionist, who believed progress could only be achieved by controlling each individual’s impulses and thought that if enough people were put in jail that America would rid itself of drugs. Nonetheless, with these same beliefs, Anslinger, used these to fight the war on drugs. Armed with a Depression snug budget, and an uphill battle Anslinger tried and failed to get state governments involved with the war effort.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this chapter we also learn that The War on Drugs is more than a simple pronouncement; it is a complex system with multiple rules and regulations. It was authorized by the federal government, protected by the court system, and is executed by local law enforcement agencies. Hundreds of thousands of people are arrested every year for drug offenses, many through specially designed police tactics.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Although Richard Nixon first declared a “war on drugs” in 1971, the war escalated during the Reagan presidency and shifted its focus from treatment toward incarceration and law enforcement. As George Moss and Evan Thomas explain, Reagan came to Washington “committed to waging a war on drugs and bringing the international drug trade under control” in 1981. Thanks to the rise of the Medellin Cartel in Colombia and other cartels in Latin America during the 1980s, illegal drug trade networks flourished, and America became “the world’s major consumer of illicit drugs.” This increased usage of drugs led to many social crises, including heightened urban crime and health problems, which encouraged both the Reagan administration and private groups…

    • 1367 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prohibition In The 1920's

    • 1491 Words
    • 6 Pages

    This online article talks about the similarities between the prohibition and the War on Drugs. It offers theories about why the war on drugs continues to be waged and states that it is primarily due to the stubbornness of the United States government. They bring up the fact that many high profile individuals and politicians have used illegal drugs yet they still support the war. They also bring up the financial burden that came along with prohibition and point out that the same burden is being placed on us nearly 80 years later yet…

    • 1491 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Many people would claim that President Richard Nixon started the war on drugs. Although it is less well-known today that the Nixon Administration also repealed the federal 2–10-year mandatory minimum sentences for possession of marijuana and started federal demand for reduction programs. He also endorsed drug-treatment programs, and that Nixon only made an effort of continuation towards the states original acts of prohibition dating back to 1905-1914. Even with these programs the U.S. still has a high incarceration count for drug related arrest when compared to other countries. So, are these methods effective for reducing addiction, or is there a better alternative to the war on drugs?…

    • 1927 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    War On Drugs In The 1960s

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ultimately the new “war on drugs” had a negative impact on American life during the mid 1980s-early 2000s due to the economic costs, the strain put on our justice system, and the civil liberty violations that occurred. As with any other war or bureaucratic endeavor, money must be heavily drawn upon and invested. When discussing the overall cost of this “war” through this time, congressman Lee Hamilton stated that, “Federal and local governments spend over $3 billion each year to fight drugs.” (cite) In his quote it becomes apparent that the United States had become highly invested and arguably obsessed in a seemingly impossible “war.”…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I intend to talk about the repeated effect of the drug war. Forty years ago, the world declared war on drugs. Today, after decades of failing to adequately control drug consumption, an even greater problem has emerged: violent drug traffickers have taken the industry hostage and will stop at nothing to preserve their power. ( Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies;Summer2011, Vol.18 Issue 2, p901-927, 27p). Drug trafficking is the most widespread and lucrative organized crime operation in the United States, with an annual income estimated to be as high as 110…

    • 368 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    War on drugs

    • 4800 Words
    • 20 Pages

    In this paper I will evaluate America's War on Drugs. More specifically, I will outline our nation's general drug history and look critically at how Congress has influenced our current ineffective drug policy. Through this analysis I hope to show that drug prohibition policies in the United States, for the most part, have failed. Additionally, I will highlight and evaluate the influences acting on individual legislators' decisions to continue support for these ineffective policies as a more general demonstration of Congress' role in the formation of our nation's drug policy strategy. Finally, I will conclude this analysis by outlining the changes I feel necessary for future progress to be made. Primary among these changes are a general promotion of drug education and the elimination of our current system's many de-legitimating hypocrisies.…

    • 4800 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    On June 17, 1971, President Richard Nixon committed what is arguably one of his most significant and lasting executive acts when he issued a special message to Congress regarding the growing drug abuse problem within the United States. Although this message was significant in many ways because of the public acknowledgment that the Federal Government was not doing enough to combat drugs and their associated ills, this message is mostly remembered as the origin of the term the War on Drugs. We are now over forty years removed from that “declaration of war,” and not only has the United States ' drug problem remained, it has grown to unthinkable proportions,…

    • 2037 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Schaffer, C.A. (n.d.) Basic Facts About the War on Drugs. Retrieved on April 22, 2006 from:…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Asset Forfeiture

    • 1238 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The United States Department of Justice 's Asset Forfeiture Program is a nationwide law enforcement program that has become a powerful weapon in the fight against crime. This involves removing the proceeds of crimes used by criminals to continue activity against society. Asset forfeiture has the impact of disrupting criminal activities that would continue to function if the only tool used was conviction and incarceration of certain individuals. While the Department of Justice program applies only to cases developed by enforcement officials in certain agencies of the Federal Government, state and local agencies may have similar programs and are not part of the federal program. (.http://www.usdoj.gov/jmd/afp/)…

    • 1238 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the early 1980’s the Regan-Bush administration declared their war on drugs. During this particular time there was an existing notion that drug use was at an all time high and the administration went out to put an end to the problem. Recreational drug use during the prohibition was historically aimed at an increasing number of people stop using drugs because it was seen as immoral and destructive to the body. In reality the use of drugs was on the decline. The war was a failure, “The street price of cocaine, the war’s signature drug, should have risen if dealing were becoming riskier and drugs less available; prices fell”(Tonry p.81). The outcomes during the War on Drugs came at high costs with low rewards and failures that were associated with the war significantly outweighed the resulting outcome of people taking part in drug use. During this time it was already seen that the black population was at the origin of drug users and that they were the ones creating this problem, furthermore, effecting any and all…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The phrase “sex, drugs, and rock and roll” held true to its well-earned spot in 1970’s and 1980’s society. With a new, looser culture, explicit music, raunchy and rambunctious movies as well as a societal focus on many things immoral, it was an era of challenging social norms. As the use of recreational and psychoactive drugs, as well as alcohol, increased, a new problem arose; how does law enforcement and the government undo the damage being made by this new society? Laws were passed, bureaus and commissions were formed, and the President of the United States began what he called “The War on Drugs”. Over the years, some of these solutions have proven to make some impact. The initiation, tactics, and attempts at dealing a major blow to drug abuse have all affected the way America sees drugs today. A new type of warfare had made its way into the country, and after all these years, it has made its fair share of positive and negative effects.…

    • 1554 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays