Block D
In-Class Writing: Drug Policy
Use of illegal substances has been a large scale problem recently, especially in the United States. President Richard Nixon's saw this and went so far to target drug abuse as "public enemy number one in the United States." Nixon started the movement, "War on Drugs", in June of 1971, to combat illegal drug use. Around this time, there were events of mass incarceration which was due to the serious sentences of drug possession and drug use. Today, drug abuse is a continuous problem especially with younger generations. I think drug use is and extremely dangerous and needs to be eradicated, but perhaps there is a way to combat this evil in a way that aids the drug offender while also keeping the population at large happy.
The "War on Drugs" seemed to be an attempt to solve the drug problem, and in a way it was, but many saw through Nixon. Nixon's counsel and Assistant for Domestic Affairs revealed that instead of drug abuse being public enemy number one it was anti-war and blacks who were the real enemies. The War on Drugs was meant to target the anti-war and blacks with the harsh penalties, enforcement, and incarcerations. And it worked. The United States makes up 5% of the world's population, but also makes up for 25% of the incarcerated population. Drug offenders were being incarcerated at immense rates and with harsh and long sentences. And these misguided drug laws and harsh sentencing had unequal outcomes for blacks and people of color. Blacks are far more likely to get longer sentences than whites even if it was the same crime that the two committed. In general, blacks and Latinos are far more likely to be criminalized and stopped, searched, convicted, and harshly sentenced than white people.
The United States incarcerated 1.5 million people for drug related crimes in 2016 and 80% of those were possession of the drug only. And in the time of War on Drugs, incarcerations went from 50,000 in 1980 to 400,000 in 1997. I see punishment necessary in the relationship between people and drug abuse, the punishment can vary, but someone cannot be allowed to commit a crime and not be punished or the problem will grow. This makes me think that there can possibly be a way to rehabilitate people with drug addictions and lessen the sentences of those found possessing drugs. The answer is not simply to stop arresting drug abusers because of the vast numbers of people being incarcerated.
Nixon's wife founded the "Just Say No" campaign to educate school children to the dangers of drug use. I believe this is a step down the right path in lessening the control drugs in our culture. Alerting children and teenagers and young adults of the dangers and consequences of drug use will assist to making people not join in doing drug in the first place. Substance use is a serious threat to all ages and damages physical and mental health, but especially for younger people. At a young age brains are still developing and are more prone to damaging effects and life-long problems. Making smart decisions and being impulsive is already a problem for younger people and adding drugs to the mix only amplifies the effects. Teenagers become more impulsive and make more bad decisions. And at this age they are more at risk of falling victim to addiction. Teenager should be focusing on building and educating themselves but instead many gain short and long term cognitive impairment, have a difficulty learning and processing information, receive depression and anxiety, and have problems doing everyday task all because of drug use.
I believe Richard Nixon's, War on Drugs, was a good thing. Drug abuse is a problem and was in a way trying to be handled through War on Drugs. But when his War on Drugs became War on Blacks is when the conflict arouse. Drug abuse should be handled but in a way that legitimately targets the drugs and not a group of people. I believe drug offenders should be punished but perhaps less seriously then they are now, or those with addictions can be rehabilitated. Education on the consequences of drugs needs to continue to be taught in school. And most of all, all people should receive equal sentences.
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