The War on Drugs

The War on Drugs was implemented in 1971 by Richard Nixon, and it marked the beginning of one of the most controversial events in America's history. There were many steps taken to prevent drug usage, especially marijuana and the government did this by moving Marijuana to Schedule 1 which meant that it was one of the most restricted drugs. In the early stages, many people in the government were in favor of decriminalizing weed but after a short stint, the idea was abandoned. Reagan then took the presidency and he expanded the war. This led to high rates of incarceration and the general public became more concerned with the issue. In the late '80s, almost 65% percent of the nation believed drugs were the biggest problem we faced but this number slowly faded off. Then, when Bill Clinton took office, the sentences for drug offenses became more severe and many African Americans were imprisoned. The general public feels that the Drug War was racist and that it targeted minority communities. Statistics seem to back this up because 60% of people in State Prisons for drug offenses are either Black or Latino. Another controversial part of the war is the long sentencing for non-violent drug offenses. There are many occurrences of people receiving over a decade in prison due to non-violent drug offenses. The War on Drugs can be viewed as an excuse to target minorities and there are many politicians that are passionate about the issue. Beto O'Rourke was openly against the War on Drugs and there are many other larger politicians against it, and it's apart of a bigger issue which is the decriminalization of Marijuana.
The War on Drugs also brings about the topic of justice reform which is a popular view for people on both aisles. A majority of the population believes in reform, both Republicans and Democrats, and it's surprising that significant steps haven't been taken. Justice System Reform would definitely be a difficult task but if it would help prevent unfair sentencing of minorities and our population in general, then it would be totally justified to happen. Many people believe that there are numerous problems within our justice system and they believe that those issues have led to minorities recieving harsher sentences than others.

http://www.drugpolicy.org/issues/brief-history-drug-war

Comments

  1. Ren ShimadaMay 9, 2019 at 4:29 PM

    I recently came across an article (which I did my blog on) about how one of Nixon's advisers admitted that the War on Drugs specifically targeted African Americans and minorities.

    https://www.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hippie/index.html

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