Haley Buls

Professor Myhre
LAW 100
12/15/16

Abandoning the War on the Drugs

The “War on Drugs” refers to the federal policy of criminalizing substances that greatly
expanded during the 1980s under the Reagan administration. The decades following have seen a
dramatic increase in incarceration rates, the use of paramilitary police force, and outcries against
racial biases (Drug Policy, 2016). Characterized as a “zero tolerance” program, policy makers
focused on punitive measures directed against drug users and those in possession of drugs. Based
on the ill-effects produced by the ‘War on Drugs’ policies the best alternative is the reform of
substance-abuse policy, essentially abandoning the War on Drugs.
The War on Drugs represents a grossly irresponsible mishandling of a public health
concern, incorrectly guided by false moralistic assumptions. Under Reagan, the directive of the
program aimed at punishing drug abusers. This in part arises from the unfair characterization of
those addicted to drugs as fundamentally immoral. Population wide addiction poses a massive
public health concern, addiction is formally recognized as a disease, and treatment is readily
available, and yet the continued stigmatization allows for the gross mishandling of the issue.
15.9% of Americans 12 and up are affected by addiction, more than those who are affected by
heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Compare that to the proportion who are receive no treatment
for addiction at all, 89.1%. (NIASA, 2012). The National Center of Addiction and Substance
Abuse at Columbia University have outlined a plethora of effective treatments and policy
strategies to mitigate the prevalence and spread of addiction. Unsurprisingly, very few overlap
with the harshly punitive measures enforced under the War on Drugs program. The extreme
stigmatization that surrounds addiction has been conferred to those that abuse illicit drugs, even
when in a manner that does not lead to addiction. So it is that those who use illicit drugs are
villainized and extreme punishments can be handed down with little empirical basis for their
success in the public health sphere. Consider the actions abroad in the Philippines, where
President Rodrigo Duterte enacted his own zero tolerance campaign against drug users. Since his
taking office just this June of 2016, 2,000 have been slain at the hands of the police in the name
of mitigating drug use (Berehulak, 2016). While the international community reacts in shock and
horror, the crux of Duterte’s campaign remains eerily similar to the domestic program in the
United States. Criminalization coupled with ‘zero tolerance’, with emphasis on police
crackdowns all influenced by the perspective that those who use drugs are morally deserving of
punishment. The barbarism demonstrated in the Philippines should serve as cause for serious
self-reflection as a nation.
Fear of the slew of issues that arise from drug use and hate for the abuser has allowed for
racially biased enforcement and the reduction of fundamental rights. Over decades of zero
tolerance towards illicit drug use, the best that the United States has to show is an alarming
incarceration rate of black men. Coupled with even further punitive measures towards felons, the
war on drugs may be seen as the nexus behind the racial tensions rife in our institutions and
culture. The United States is the “only democracy in the world” to disenfranchise felons after a
completed sentence. Consider that even non-violent drug possession may be considered a felony
in Florida, enough to strip you of your fundamental right as a citizen in a democracy, and that
31% of black men in Florida cannot vote and never will be able to again. More than ten states
have disenfranchised over 20% of black men in their state. A rhetoric promoting the protection
of society from drugs has fueled institutional oppression of black men, replacing the vacuum left
by Jim Crow laws and chattel slavery before it (ACLU, 2016). African Americans represent 12%
of the U.S. population and 44% of incarcerated individuals (Amnesty International, 2016). It is
largely acknowledged that the rise in incarceration, 1100% from 1980, is due to the penal
measures enacted in the ‘war’, and the number in prison for drug offenses outnumbers the figure
in prison for all offenses in 1980. The Sentencing Project attributes the ever increasing
incarceration to laws that further increase minimum prison sentencing and cutbacks on parole.
People of color comprise 37% of the U.S. population and still 67% of the incarcerated population
(The Sentencing Project, 2009).
Approaching drug abuse from a public health perspective would change the landscape of
criminal-justice in the United States in a multitude of ways. Considering the overwhelming
evidence that the war on drugs has resulted in an increase of racially biased incarceration, the
decriminalization of certain drugs would hopefully lead to an immediate remedy to this issue
(Nadelmann, 1991). Lower potency drugs, such as marijuana, could be legalized, as it has been
in many states that took the initiative to do so. In states such as Colorado and Washington, arrest
rates for marijuana have decreased dramatically, as much as 98%, representing a large reduction
in the disruption of a persons life that occurs with being arrested. The massive expenses
associated with police enforcement of criminalized marijuana also poses a very convincing
incentive for both federal and state governments (Washington Post, 2016). Once a public health
perspective is adopted, money that would have be expended towards putting people in prison
could easily be redirected towards programs aimed at rehabilitation. The opportunities for this
are numerous, and extend beyond the scope of low-potency drugs. According to the National
Center for Substance and Drug Abuse at Columbia University, 44% of referrals to publicly
funded addiction treatment come from the Criminal Justice System. Although legalization of
high-potency drugs is contentious and not palatable by standards held by most Americans, the
opportunity for rehabilitation of high-potency drug users is highly viable. Addiction treatment
programs are underused as a method of treatment, and yet the criminal justice system is the
highest supplier, ironically enough. Should the precedent be set that rehabilitation is mandated,
or that in more cases than not court mandated treatment substitutes harsh prison sentences, then
the criminal justice system may actually have a measurable impact on reducing the incidence of
addiction. Whatever reform is undertaken, this would have to be the ultimate aim of drug policy.
The ‘zero tolerance’ policy towards drug use, as means of preventing addiction, has had no
benefit and massive detriment. Furthermore, the motivation behind our policies should not be to
punish those we deem immoral simply for using drugs, but to protect our national interests in
promoting health.
 Works Cited

“Addiction Medicine: Closing the Gap Between Science and Practice.” National Institute of
Addiction and Substance Abuse. Columbia University. 2012. Web. 15 December 2016.
http://www.centeronaddiction.org/addiction-research/reports/addiction-medicine.
“A Brief History of the Drug War.” Drug Policy Alliance. Web. 15 Dec. 2016.
http://www.drugpolicy.org/facts/new-solutions-drug-policy/brief-history-drug-war-0.
“The Drug War is the New Jim Crow.” ACLU. Web. 15 December 2016.
https://www.aclu.org/other/drug-war-new-jim-crow
“The Changing Racial Dynamics of the War on Drugs”. The Sentencing Project. April. 2009.
Web. 15 December 2016. http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/the-changing-racial-
dynamics-of-the-war-on-drugs/
Berehulak, Daniel. “They Are Slaughtering Us Like Animals.” New York Times. 7 Dec. 2016.
Web. 15 December 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/07/world/asia/rodrigo-
duterte-philippines-drugs-killings.html.
"Here’s how legal pot changed Colorado and Washington." The Washington Post. WP Company,
n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2016. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/10/13/heres-
how-legal-pot-changed-colorado-and-washington/>.
“Mass Incarceration in the USA.” Amnesty International. Web. 15 Dec. 2016.
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/military-police-and-arms/police-and-human-
rights/mass-incarceration-in-the-usa.
Nadelmann, Ethan A. “America's Drug Problem: Alternative Perspectives, Alternative
Futures.” Bulletin of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, vol. 45, no. 3, 1991, pp. 24–
40. www.jstor.org/stable/3824338