HISTORY DAY OUTLINE Morgan Morales, Nicole Jorgensen and Khalyce Washington Thesis: Overall, the War on Drugs

failed to achieve its purpose of significantly reducing drug use in the United States. In addition to its failure, the War on Drugs had a negative impact on minority communities in the United States and changed the demographics of the prison system. I. The War on Drugs was initiated in 1971 by President Richard Nixon to stop illicit drug use in the United states. A. The War on Drugs is related to this year's theme, "Rights and Responsibilities". 1. One of the key controversies related to the War on Drugs is whether or not Americans have the right to use illicit drugs and whether they should be legal. 2. It is also debated whether or not it lies within the government's responsibilities to regulate drug use or if it is an overreach of government power. B. The War on Drugs is significant to the history of the United States. 1. The War on Drugs had a large impact on the criminal justice system as it caused the number of prisoners to increase. (Marque) 2. The War on Drugs had a large impact on minority communities, specifically African-American communities because the number of drug-related arrests rose significantly. (Duke, Brent) C. There were a few factors that prompted the War on Drugs to be declared. 1. During the 1960s social upheaval led to a change in attitudes towards drugs which resulted in a large increase in drug use. (Musto) 2. In 1971, it was estimated that half of all soldiers in Vietnam were using heroin. Many of these soldiers were set to come home which meant that there would be an influx of heroin users, which President Nixon saw as a problem. (Musto) D. Between the 1970s and 1990s there were a number of events that coincided with the war on drugs. 1. The Vietnam war occurred throughout the first half of the 1970s and impacted drug policy. (Musto) 2. The President Nixon watergate scandal led to Nixon resigning from office, which caused a shift in the War on Drugs, leading it to focus primarily on reducing drug supply rather than providing funding for drug rehabilitation programs. (Musto) II. The War on Drugs failed to achieve its purpose which was to significantly reduce drug use,

supply, and accessibility in the US. (Nixon) A. The War on Drugs was unable to significantly limit drug use in the United States. 1. The percent of people using cocaine increased from 1.9% in 1975 to 6.7% in 1985. (Lloyd) Though the use of cocaine went down after the 1980s, this statistic shows that the War on Drugs was unable to prevent increases in drug use. 2. The number of drug-related emergency room visits increased from 323,100 in 1978 to 425,904 in 1989. (Lloyd) This statistic also shows that the War on Drugs was unable to lower drug use as the number of people visiting the emergency room for drug-related reasons increased. 3. The number of unintentional drug overdoses more than tripled between 1971 and 1993. (CDC) This shows that the War on Drugs failed to reduce drug overdoses despite efforts to educate the public about the dangers of drug abuse. B. Efforts to reduce the supply of drugs entering the United States were largely ineffective. 1. From 1978 to 1984 the amount of cocaine entering the U.S. yearly increased from between 19 and 25 tons to between 71 and 137 tons. (Kass) 2. Only 5% to 15% of illegal drugs entering the United States are intercepted by authorities. (Kass) C. Illicit drugs became more affordable over the duration of the War on Drugs, despite the efforts of the DEA. This meant that not only had the DEA failed to significantly reduce the supply of illicit drugs, but that drugs has become more accessible to the American people. 1. In 1982, it cost a drug user $630 to buy one gram of cocaine. In 1992, it cost $277.98. (White House) 2. In 1983, it cost the average drug user $5268.96 to buy one gram of heroin. In 1993, it cost $2478.64. (White House) 3. In 1981, it cost the average drug user $490.04 to buy one gram of methamphetamine while in 1993, it cost $258.10. (White House) *All drug prices adjusted for inflation. III. The War on Drugs had a disproportionately negative impact on minority communities in the United States. A. The number of African-Americans being arrested and prosecuted for drug possession was significantly disproportionate to the percent of drug users they accounted for. 1. African-Americans made up thirteen percent of all drugs users, which was

proportional to their portion of the United States' population at the time. (Duke, Brent) This meant that African-Americans did not use drugs at a higher than average rate. 2. African-Americans made up thirty-five percent of people who were arrested for drug possession. (Duke, Brent) This suggests that African-Amercans were unfairly targeted for drug arrests, because they were being arrested at a rate which was almost three times higher than the number of drug users they made up. 3. Seventy-four percent of people who were prosecuted for drug possession were African-American. (Duke, Brent) This statistic also supports the notion that the War on Drugs unfairly targeted blacks, because they were prosecuted over five and a half times more frequently than they should have been with respect to the number of drug users they account for. B. Mandatory Minimum sentencing for cocaine unfairly targeted black communities. 1. "Economically disadvantaged individuals tend to use crack more than cocaine, while cocaine use is more prevalent amongst people in the middle and upper classes...3.4 percent of blacks and 1.6 percent of whites report having used crack" (Brent, Duke) Since crack cocaine was used at a higher rate by blacks than whites, it became associated with African-Americans while powder cocaine was more commonly associated with white people. 2. In 1986, mandatory sentencing laws for drug possession were passed. Sentencing for crack cocaine was 100 times more punitive than powder cocaine. (House) This meant that someone arrested for possession of 5g of crack cocaine would spend the same amount of time in prison as someone arrested for possession of 500g of powder cocaine. Therefore, African-American drug users were more likely to face longer jail sentences because they used crack cocaine at a higher rate than white Americans did. 3. "While only two times more black people use crack than white people, over four times as many black people are sentenced for crack related offenses." (Brent, Duke) This is another statistic which highlights the disparity between drug prosecution for white and black Americans. C. The War on Drugs created policies which facilitated racial profiling. 1. "(The 1986 Schoolyard Law) mandated enhanced sentences for people selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a schoolyard or 100 feet of a playground or video arcade." (Brent, Duke) The Schoolyard Law was an example of the racial profiling used by law enforcement during the War on Drugs 2. Out of the ninety-three people who were prosecuted under the Schoolyard law, eighty-nine of them were black or Latino. (Brent, Duke) The reason for so many

blacks and Latinos being prosecuted and so few whites being prosecuted is that law enforcement primarily patrolled schools in minority neighborhoods while white neighborhoods were typically left alone. This suggests that the discrepancy in drug arrests between whites and minorities is due to racial profiling. IV. The War on Drugs had a significant impact on the United States prison population. A. The number of inmates rose dramatically. 1. Before the War on Drugs began in 1971, the United States prison population was 198,061. (Prisoners) 2. In 1993, the United States prison population was 909,381. (Prisoners) This is a 450% increase from the number of inmates in 1971. For comparison, the United States population increased by 12% during that same time. B. The percentage of people incarcerated for drug offenses rose significantly. 1. In 1980, drug offenders accounted for 21% of the total U.S. prison population. (Prisoners) 2. In 1993, drug offenders accounted for over 51% of the total U.S. prison population. (Prisoners) This large increase in the percentage of incarcerated drug offenders can be attributed to the War on Drugs' severe drug sentencing laws. Since the number of people imprisoned for drug offenses grew so dramatically, it had a significant effect on the overall prison population and led to an increase in the number of prisoners. C. The demographics in American prisons shifted, with the number of minorities in prison outnumbering whites. 1. In 1970, 61% of all prisoners were white and 39% were black, with other races not accounted for. (Prisoners) 2. In 1993, 39.9% of prisoners were white, 44% were black, and 15% were Hispanic. (Prisoners) This shift in demographics reflects the high rate at which minorities were incarcerated in comparison to whites. This change can be attributed to the War on Drugs because minorities are prosecuted at a significantly higher rate for drug offenses that whites are, which would account for their larger presence in American prisons. V. Overall, the War on Drugs failed to achieve its purpose, unfairly targeted minorities in America, and led to significant changes in the U.S. prison system. A. The War on Drugs was a failure because it wasn't able to prevent the rise of drug use in the United States during the 1980s, the number of drug related deaths tripled between 1975 and 1993, and the number of drug-related emergency room visits increased.

B. The War on Drugs led to African-Americans being arrested and prosecuted for drug offenses at a much higher rate than whites and helped to facilitate racial profiling through law enforcement practices. C. The War on Drugs led to a significant increase in the number of people in the American prison system and also shifted the prison demographics from primarily white, non-drug related offenders, to primarily minorities who had committed non-violent drug offenses.

Annotated Bibliography Primary Sources Belenko, Steven R. Drugs and Drug Policy in America: A Documentary History. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2000. Print. This book is a collection of primary documents related to drugs and drug policy in the United States. It contains a total of 271 primary sources documents which range from newspaper articles to government acts. This source is credible because its editor is easy to identify and it was published. It is also credible because all of its primary sources are cited and can be easily traced back to their original publication. We used this source to gather historical perspective on the War on Drugs. The newspaper articles were helpful to understand public opinion towards the war on drugs and also provided us with background info in the early stages of our research. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Unintentional Drug Poisoning in the United States." July 2010. Web. This source contains a number of statistics regarding drug related deaths in the United States. It is credible because it was published by the CDC which is a government agency and it contains publishing information. We used this source to gather information about drug related deaths in America over the past 30 years. Drug Enforcement Administration. "DEA.gov / History." DEA.gov. Web. This source provided more information about the DEA and its history in addition to the DEA's published print source which we cited earlier. This source was more easy to navigate and allowed us to learn about the historical context related to the War On Drugs and the early years of the DEA. This source is credible because it was published and edited by a government agency. We primarily used this source to gather information about the Drug Enforcement Agency's strategies so that we could formulate our argument for Roman numeral III. Drug Enforcement Administration. Drug Enforcement Administration, A Tradition of Excellence

1973-2008. Print. United States Depository, 2008. This source, which was published and written by the Drug Enforcement Administration, provides in depth information about the background, operations, and objective of the DEA. It also includes information about different drug cartels such as the Medellin and Cali cartels. This source is credible because it was published by a government administration meaning that it would have been edited to ensure accuracy. This source helped me to better understand the War On Drugs from the government's point of view, because I learned what their strategies were and how they expected them to limit the flow of drugs into the United States. Overall, this source was used primarily for background research and formulating the thesis. "A Former U.S. Police Chief Stirs the Pot on Drug Laws." Crime and Punishment: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 7881. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Jan 2014. This source gave us information on a police officer's opinion on the legalization of drugs, which helps us better understand the legalization aspect of the War on Drugs. This source is credible because it was published and it is easy to find the author. Nixon, Richard. "Special Message to the Congress on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control." National Archives and Records Administration.17 June 1971. This speech, which was given by President Richard Nixon in 1971, marks the beginning of the War On Drugs. This source is credible because it was delivered by a U.S. President meaning that it would have been fact checked by speech writers, prior to being delivered. Our group used this source to gather background information that we could use in our introduction about why the War on a Drugs was initiated. Office of National Drug Control Policy. "About ONDCP | The White House." Web. This source documents the history of the Office of National Drug Control Policy which was established by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. This source is credible because it was published and edited by a government agency. We used this source when writing Roman numeral III, because it helped us better understand United States' drug policy during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Office of National Drug Control Policy. "The Price of Illicit Drugs: 1981 Through the Second Quarter of 2001." Web. October 2001. This source provides in depth statistics related to prices of illicit drugs in the United States including heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine, and cocaine. It is credible because it was published by a government agency and received the Seal of the

Executive Office of the President of the United States of America. Our group used this source to provide statistical evidence regarding drugs prices when we were typing up roman numeral II of our outline. "Prisoners In Custody Of State Or Federal Correctional Authorities, 1977-98." Publications and Products: Prisoners. 1 Sept. 2000. Web This source provides statistics related the the number of prisoners in the U.S. prison system. This source is credible because it was published by a government agency and contains information about when it was published. We used this source to find information about the U.S. prison population over time, so that we had evidence to support our argument in Roman numeral IV. The White House. National Drug Control Strategy. Web. January 1990. This source details drug control strategy specifically for the year 1990. It provides a number of in depth statistics about the success of past strategies and explains the purpose of the new strategies. It is highly detailed and informative. It also provides historical context for the War On Drugs during that time period. The source is credible because it was published by the White House meaning that it is thoroughly fact checked and intended to provide accurate information. Secondary Sources Abadinsky, Howard. "Drug Trafficking." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online, 2014. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. This source helped us find out who the drug distributors are. Also where most of the drugs that are found in the US come from. We used this in our project to help us understand how the administration for drug control handled this. It is credible because it was published in an encyclopedia and it is easy to find the author. "A Brief History of the Drug War." Drug Policy Alliance. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Feb.2014. This website gives an overall summary of the drug war and includes many main points and important people who were involved with the topic. The way I used this source was to gain basic background knowledge on the drug war and gain a very basic understanding. I believe this source is credible because it is a .org website with a copy right date and the website includes an "about us" for the authors and creators of the website. "Criminal Justice Fact Sheet." NAACP. Web. This website included a number of specific fact about America's criminal justice system. This source is credible because it is a .org website and has an "about" page which provides information about the organization. The NAACP is also a nationally recognized

civil rights group. We used this source to provide evidence for our Roman Numeral III. "Drug Enforcement Administration." Encyclopedia Americana. Growlier Online, 2014. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. This source gave us information on what the government did to prevent drugs from entering the U.S. and also what acts were made to reduce the amount of drug use. This source is credible because it was published in an encyclopedia meaning that it was edited and reviewed before being put online. Duke, Brent. "Race and the War on Drugs." Poverty & Prejudice: Paradoxes of U.S. Drug Policies. Stanford University, 04 June 1999. This source details the relationship between United States drug policy and race. It provides evidence to support the notion that the War on Drugs has unfairly targeted black communities. The source is credible because it includes citations, it is part of a lecture given at Stanford University, and there is information about the author and the publishing date. We used this source primarily to gather evidence to support our argument for Roman numeral IV. Duke, Steven B., and Albert C. Gross. "The Drug War Cannot Succeed." America's Longest War: Rethinking Our Tragic Crusade against Drugs. New York: Putnam's Sons, 1993. 200-27. Print. This source described the failures of the War on Drugs and detailed why the efforts to reduce supply were ineffectual. This source is credible because it was formally published, contains extensive citations, and it is easy to find information about the author and publishing company. We used this source to formulate our arguments for Roman numerals II, III, and IV. It helped is to understand exactly why the War on a Drugs wasn't succeeding, which allowed us to improve our argument. Fisher, Gary. Rethinking Our War On Drugs: Candid Talk About Controversial Isssues. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2006. Print. This source, while slightly biased against the War on Drugs, provided useful statistics which detailed how it had failed to accomplish its objective. We used these statistics to formulate and support our argument that the War on Drugs was a failure. The source is credible because it uses extensive citations and was nationally published. It also includes extensive information about the author. Goode, Erich. "Drug Abuse." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. Grolier Online, 2014. Web. 3 Feb. 2014

Grolier offers information on many different topics, and is a school database that is used to find credible sources. This is how I know this source is credible, and it also has the authors name at the bottom of the information. I used this source to gain more information on the topic. Goode, Erich, and Nachman Ben-yehuda. "The American Drug Panic of the 1980s." The American Drug Panic of the 1980s. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Feb. 2014. This website has a time specific topic of the drug war. It includes a lot of instances during the time period that contributed to the significance of the drug war. This website was mainly used to gather specific references to occasions during this time period. The site is credible because it is a .org website, includes authors, publishers, and a copyright date. The House I Live In. Dir. Eugene Jarecki. 2012. The House I Live In is a documentary about people's experiences with drugs, and the shortcomings of the War on Drugs. This website was used to help us gain understanding and basic knowledge of the policies that the United States has when it comes to drug possession and use. It also helped when we were developing our argument for Roman numeral III. This documentary is credible because it is easy to find information about who made it and it includes first hand accounts from a wide array of people who are affected by or involved with the War on Drugs. It also cited the statistics it used in the film. Kass, Dorean; Telesmanich, Jim; and Wright, Matt "The United States War on Drugs." Poverty & Prejudice. Stanford University. Spring 1999. This source is on overall detail of the War on Durgs and gives statistics related to drug arrests, drug captures, and drug use. This source is credible because it is apart of a lecture given at Stanford University, contains author information, and it has many citations. We used this source to provide evidence for our Roman numeral I. Lloyd, Jennifer. "Drug Use Trends." Drug Use Trends. White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Oct. 2002. Web. This source contains a number of facts related to drug use in America since the 1970s. It is credible because it is easy to find author information, it contains citations for all facts, and it was published by the ONDCP which is a government agency. We used this source to prove our argument for Roman numeral I. Marque Sole, Jason. "The War on Drugs." Council on Crime and Justice. Web. This source describes the effect that the War on Drugs has had on the American prison population as well as the African-American communities in the U.S. This source is

credible because it is a .org website, has easy to find author information, and includes citations. We used this source to provide evidence for our argument in Roman numerals I and IV regarding the impact that the War on Drugs has had on minority communities and prisons. Musto, David. The American Disease: Origins of Narcotic Control. 3rd edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Print. This source details the events leading up to the War on Drugs as well as the history of drug control. This source is credible because it contains an extensive list of citations, it provides ample information about the author, and it was formally published. We used this source specifically for gaining historical perspective regarding the War on Drugs. It helped us to better understand the social changes which took place in the 1960s and the significance of the Vietnam War, both in relation to the war on drugs. National Public Radio. "Timeline: America's War on Drugs." NPR, 2 Apr. 2007. This source provides a detailed timeline of the events leading up to and during the War on Drugs. It mentions the important figures in the War On Drugs as well as the most significant dates. This source is credible because it contains a number of citations and links to primary sources and it was apart of a published television series. This was our most helpful source in terms of background research. It helped us to understand the what, when, and who in regards to the War on Drugs. PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2014. This website was a brief timeline of events that happened during the war on drugs. It included many things before the war was declared and after the war was declared. I used this website to gain a basic understanding of when things happened and what year major events happened during this time period. This website is credible because it is featured on popular and well known website and it includes a copyright date. President Nixon Declares 'War' on Drugs." Medicine, Health, and Bioethics: Essential Primary Sources. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 297-300. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 28 Jan. 2014. This source was very helpful with our project. It provided us with background information on how the "War on Drugs" came to be. Also the information from the article provided us with details on who was affected by drug addiction and what treatment was provided for drug addiction. This source is credible because it was published in an online database and the author is easy to find. Stimmel, Barry. Drug Abuse and Social Policy in America: The War That Must Be Won. New York: Haworth Medical, 1996. 93-127 Print.

This source provided information as to why the war on drugs wasn't as successful as it should have been and it contained a number of drug usage statistics. This source is credible because it contains an extensive list of citations, it was formally published, and it is easy to find information about the author. We used this source to help formulate our thesis and our argument for Roman numeral III. Suddath, Claire. "The War on Drugs." Time Incorporated, 25 March 2009. Web. This source provides a broad summary of the effects of the War on Drugs. It details its overall cost as well as the significance of the Colombian drug cartels with relation to the Drug Enforcement Administration. This source is credible because it was published in a national magazine and it is easy to find the author and her credentials. The source was used primarily for background research. We didn't draw any evidence from it, but it helped us understand the overall significance of our topic. "The War on Drugs." American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 9: 1980-1989. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 20 Dec. 2013 This source gave us information on the success and failures that the government had when they first had started the war on drugs. This source is credible because it was published in an online database and it is easy to figure out who the author is.