The War on Drugs

In 1971 President Nixon declared the War on Drugs.

According to Wikipedia, the War on Drugs was aimed to reduce and eventually stop illegal drug trade. CNN tells us that about four decades have passed since Nixon declared the War on Drugs and about one trillion has been spent since then. One trillion dollars has been spent, and there has been little to no effect on the supply or demand of drugs. Throughout this time, Wikipedia tells us that Congress has passed multiple laws, bills, and acts to try and prevent illegal drug trade.

Many people believe that the laws, bills, and acts passed about the War on Drugs only care about segregating the human race by skin color and wealth. Some of these are the Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences Act, the Welfare Reform Act, and the Free Students Loans Act. According to Wikipedia, the Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences Act says that someone convicted of a drug felony has to serve a minimum amount of years in prison.

According to Truthloader, since Ronald Reagan passed the Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentences Act the prison rate due to illegal drug use has been 49% higher for blacks than whites.  Not only has the War on Drugs discriminated between different races, but it has also discriminated on the less wealthy.  Truthloader also tells us about the Welfare Reform Act and the Drug Free Students Loans Act. The Welfare Reform Act says if you are convicted of a drug felony then you loose all rights for finical assistance for the rest of your life.  The Free Students Loans Act states that if a student is convicted of a drug felony then they will be temporally or permanently declined federal college loans and grants. Therefore, drug lords or convicts who do not have the money to go to college will pretty much be confined to being poor. Instead of offering them help to turn their lives around, they are classified as drug addicts for the rest of their life.

     The War on Drugs has not improved society or kept the rate of crime down. Since the War on Drugs was declared in 1971, CNN tells us that, the rate of prisoners, because of illegal drug use, has risen to over half a million. That is six times more than it was in 1972. Truthloader states,” That is 5% of the worlds population, and 25% of the prison population.” I bet you’re wondering why do I care? Well, who pays for prisoners to be in prison? We do, the taxpayers. We are paying for illegal drug users to sit in jail and do nothing. We are wasting so much money and wasting a young life. What I am trying to get to is, why do we have a War on Drugs? Why do we put so many people in jail for something that is impossible to stop? Why do we not try and help turn their life around rather than locking them up?

          

     I believe that the War on Drugs is more interested in segregating and punishing offenders than educating them.  I think that the only people the War on Drugs effects is the people not even involved in illegal drug trades.  

          So, do you think the War on Drugs is effective? Personally, I do not think it is. I believe all the War on Drugs does is lock people up, which causes us more money; and discriminates people instead of helping them. I think that the War or Drugs is useless. Why spend so much money on something that is not working?  I believe that we should try to help people with drug addictions rather than locking them up. Therefore, the money we spend to keep illegal drug users locked up could be used to help turn someone’s life around. What do you think?