Brenda Hernandez

11/16/15
The Trillion-dollar failure
the war on drugs has not achieve its intended goal. created in 1971 by President Nixon as a
campaign to support the prohibition on drugs and refuse the amount of illicit drug being
circulated and traded. with this declared war on drugs came many new policies intended to
discourage people from producing, using or selling drugs. The new policies have made some
positive changes but there is not enough positive outcome to support the amount of money being
used. Legalization of all drugs may not be the answer either but there is a smarter way to
approach the issue other than the militant style that we currently have.
the federal government has spent about 13 billion dollars on the war on drugs so far on this
year alone, that is an approximate rate of $400 a second. that is the federal spending alone,
without including the state spending with adds another 22 billion. Our government should
understand tat a complete prohibition of the illicit drugs isnt going to have the greatest impact
on the amount of people using. we have already tested this out with the alcohol prohibition that
started n the 1920s. while alcohol use declined at first, the use increase just two years later at a
fast rate that would have surpassed the consumption before if they did not end the prohibition.
using the same tactics as the ones used during the prohibition are not effective so why haven't we
approached the issue from a different angle? The federal government has wasted billions of
dollars in this war against drugs and this money comes from our taxes. unfortunately, this hasn't
done much for our situation. We remain the nation with the highest amount of incarcerations
related to drugs. about fifty percent of people serving time in a federal prison are in there due to
some relation to drugs. And who pays for this? us, the tax payers of course. Because it comes

from our taxes to pay for this, it is only fair that we have a policy that will make the most out of
this money. maybe it is time to take another look at our drug policies and focus the tax dollars on
a policy that will be more beneficial for our societys health and economy.
The first step into reforming the drug policies is to look at the drugs for what they truly are
and how they effect our health. the reality is that the war on drugs mentality was a reaction
initiated by racism that started even before president Nixon coined the term. The policies began
due to negative accusation with other races. if that were not the case than marijuana would not be
any more illegal than, alcohol, tobacco or a prescription drug like valium. What people fail to
realize is that drug policies have been created against certain groups of people. In the late 1800,
there was an influx of Chinese immigrants arriving in the west. The chinless immigrants where
associated with smoking opium, and were blamed for luring white women into the smoking dens
and taking adverting of them. with the influx of Chinese immigrants came the first opium law,
the anti-opium law of 1909. the Harrison Act, created in 1914, was created not only to target
opium but also the use of cocaine with was mainly used by black Americans at the time. there
was a hysteria of the women running off with men of different races. concerns with the Chinese
and black men wren the cause of these laws put into place. the 1990s there was a new focus to
make marijuana illegal. the cause of this was the marijuana crazed Mexicans that were creating
havoc among white communities. right of the bat, we began by looking at these drugs in
association with other aspects that are irrelevant to effects of that drug. If we could reform the
drug policy, it would have to start by looking at every substance and determining the
classification as it relates to the drug itself. we need to take a look at the drugs in question realize
that some of them are not worth putting people into jail.
some people believe that the issue of drug is to blame on the people supplying the drugs. as

long as they are supplying, people will keep consuming. others believe that the issue is rooted in
the people using because, as long as there remains a demand for the product, there will be a
supply. Well, both side are right. the drug world is about business and as long as people are
willing to buy, other will be willing to make it for money. there is a huge problem with drug use
but putting everyone into jails or pointing fingers isn't going to solve the issue. treatment and
education programs are far more effective than locking everyone up in a cell. more than half of
the federal budget for drug policies is focused on law enforcement, interdiction and eradication.
According to whitehouse.gov, Federal resources totaling $1.4 billion support education and
outreach programs aimed at preventing the initiation of drug use. 1.4 billion is a lot of money
but not in comparison to what is being spent on the more forceful and combative approaches.
more money should be spent on prevention and treatment over anything else. not only will that
bring longer lasting effects but it will be more cost effective.
of course complete extinction of drug use is impossible and in any society there will be
people suffering of addiction. Addiction is a disease but is not treated like one. instead of getting
people the help they need, our government decided it would best to incarcerate these people. but
what happens after their sentence? most people revert to using drugs because that is what they
know. because instead of getting help, they were simple locked away. a study published in Crime
& delinquency, used a lifetime simulation model to track an individuals substance abuse it was
found that if 10 percent of eligible offenders were sent to a community-based treatment
program, rather than prison, the criminal justice system would save $4.8 billion when compared
to current practices. If the drug policy could be reformed to focus on treatment versus
incarceration, that it would be possible to expand our education programs as well. our
government spend about 5% of the money on prevention. what if we could shift the focus from

busting people and incarcerating to more prevention? we could save billions of dollars. not only
will that save money but it will have longer lasting effects. money saved can be put into
programs in schools that teach individuals of the drugs harming our society or creating
environments that deter people creating bad habits.
Change, specially if it is drastic can be hard to achieve but it is necessary at times. Yes, we
do need to continue our war on drugs but use smarter tactics to better our nation. It is great to
have such militant approach when attempting to stop or lessen the international drug trade, it is
more important to start from the core of the issue. More focus should be given to the people
within our own borders. It is impossible to eliminate drugs but it is very possible to decrease
their effect on our communities. There are so many issues in our drug policy that need to be
reformed and it starts with heling our people, not punishing them. A big issue is the
decriminalization of some drugs, like marijuana. It is time we look every substance for what it is
because it makes no sense to harshly punish people for marijuana possession when it is legal and
widely accepted to drink alcohol which can be deadly. Reforming our approach in the drug war
can have a more effective outcome.

Works Cited

"Drug Use and Crime." Bureau of Justice Statistics, Drugs and Crime Facts: Drug Use and
Crime. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
"Drug Law Convictions and Punishments." Drug Law Convictions and Punishment. N.p., n.d.
Web. 08 Nov. 2015.
"The National Drug Control Budget: FY 2013 Funding Highlights." The White House. The White
House, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Economics#sthash.pZO3fJa5.dpbs