Is there a more efficient and ethical way to reduce drug abuse in the US than by conducting a war on drugs?

Yes

3 of 7

by Brandon J. Mendoza

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Since the 1980's and the Reagan administration there has been strengthened laws against crimes and drugs. The two wars are of the same nature, the war on crimes overviews the war on drugs. The war on crime is a war aimed at certain crimes, the war on drugs is an extension of the war on crime and is a war aimed at individual drugs. I argue that the war on crime and drugs has lead to our increased incarceration rates and point out that our "wars" are aimed at lower classed minorities. I will discuss first the accuracy of this belief, second the validity of these views, and last the implications of the assertions.
The belief that incarceration rates have raised because of the war on drugs is a very accurate assertion when you look at the incarceration rates before the 1980's compared to the present. Between the 1970's and 2000 the number of people incarcerated amplified from 200,000 to 1.3 million. The Department of Justice reported that by the end of 2003, federal prisons held a total of 158,426 inmates, of whom 86,972 (55%) were drug offenders. By comparison in 2000 federal prisons had 131,739 total inmates of whom 74,276 (56%) were drug offenders, and in 1995 federal prisons held a total of 88,658 inmates of whom 52,782 (60%) were drug offenders (Harrison) . With numbers so clearly showing the increases I conclude that the war on crime and drugs has lead to a large increase in incarceration.
When you look at the war on drugs via the war on crime it has to hurt the poor. The assets spent on the war on crime could easily be cut down by redefining what a drug offense is. When you look at the difference between monies spent to help the poor compared to incapacitating inmates. "States spent $32.5 billion on Corrections in 1999 alone. To compare, states only spent $22.2 billion on cash assistance to the poor (NASBO). " The Validness of these views that the war on crime has hindered the poor is illustrated in those numbers alone. The poor would benefit greatly from a cutback in spending on corrections and the assets flowing towards helping the poor.
The war on crime is morally wrong because it is focused on only certain crimes and drugs particularly the kind that don't have wealthy lobbyist behind it. This war on crime is aimed at crime that minorities utilize. The social impact of this is a disproportionate amount of certain minorities in prisons. The impact of this bad policy can be found in the increasing number of African-American men in prison. The media has chose to make the drugs used by African-Americans the so-called "worse", when it is clear that the drugs left off the political agenda are equally dangerous.
The war on crime is very biased and hinders development for a major part of a minority in the U.S. The biasness of the media in portraying African-Americans as the main wrong doers is very inaccurately curved by the fact that the crimes that are vilified are those done by poor minorities. Imagine if there were a war on music but the only music that seemed to be legitimized as wrong were Rap, R&B, And Jazz; the outcome would be similar and African-Americans would be singled out.
The implications of these assertions are beneficial but also point out that we as Americans have been duped over the past 25 years. I believe that they are shining light to something that needs to be addressed. The current policy on crime needs to be revamped and aimed at crime in general not crime in media terms. There needs to be new insight in the regulating of illegal substances.

Endnotes:

Harrison, Paige M. & Allen J. Beck, PhD, US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Prisoners in 2005 (Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, November 2006), p. 10, Table 14.

Source: National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO), 1999 State Expenditure Report (Washington, DC: NASBO, June 2000), pp. 38, 68

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