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Ashley Wood

Dr. Adrienne Cassell

English 1201

4/18/19

War, huh… What is it good for?

I’ve smoked weed out of bongs, bowls and papers, ate cheese pizza garnished with magic

mushrooms on my worn-out sectional with my best friend, and drank enough alcohol to convince

myself I was a brilliant enough singer to take on a Whitney Houston hit. Does that make me an

awful person, does that classify me as an addict, or irresponsible tyrant? The only time I ever

tried drugs was on my own terms to see how it would affect me and what I would take from it,

and you know what? While smoking weed I learned to slow down my anxieties and take in each

moment as a gift, on my trip with mushrooms I explored all the inner conscious parts of myself

that I had kept locked away too scared to recognize receiving answers to questions I had ignored,

and alcohol well those haven’t held my best moments if I’m being honest, but I have learned that

it’s just not for me. For the most part what I did was illegal, honestly though I would risk

legalities all over again for those experiences of self-discovery. Yes, certain drugs are scary and

harmful and those who are battling addiction need help and deserve it. But does my

experimenting really warrant the label of a criminal? All over the world drugs are used for a

multitude of reasons as medicines, as gateways to self-discovery and religion, and a lot of times

just simply for fun and enlightenment. So, what is right? Why are drugs bad and where did that

start? Has this so-called war on drugs really been effective and necessary or has it caused more

harm than good?

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The perversion of drugs has been a long occurring trend in American history starting with

prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s and raging on to the Marijuana tax act in 1937. However, our

longest running “efforts” to criminalize drugs has been credited to “The War on Drugs”. It all

began in 1971 while Richard Nixon was in office while running for his second term and a real

war was raging on in Vietnam. Nixon declared that drugs were public enemy number one, but his

crusade of concern was a disguised twisted plot to aid him in political growth. His previous

Assistant of Domestic affairs John Ehrlichman highlighted Nixon’s true intention when he

openly spoke to Harper Magazine in 1994 regarding the War on Drugs. Ehrlichman conveyed

that it was an easy solution for Nixon to alienate two prominent groups who were driving forces

against the war in Vietnam and his candidacy which were “the anti-war left (hippies) and black

people”. This tactic was used to target these communities by establishing a connection between

them and drug use to them public and alienate them from society as miscreants. Nixon with the

help of the media manipulatively linked heroin and marijuana use to these groups in order to

disassemble their communities, stigmatize them to society and condemn these groups through

lawful action and prison time. The result of this was immediate, the huge impact caused the

previous rate of incarceration of males to double within the first ten years and continue to grow

tremendously. Only recently has its momentum decelerated, projected to be the result of the

State- and city-wide decriminalization of Marijuana. (Perry, 2018)

The main attribute of this war has been the overwhelming financial lost that our country

has been exposed too. A crushing one trillion dollars has been spent since the start of this war

and continues to grow progressively with federal government spending roughly nine million

dollars every day to incarcerate those convicted of drug charges. A Considerable amount of the

funds that are provided to continue this battle are funneled through multiple programs and law
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enforcement agencies. These agencies and programs rely solely on this financing and are

provided more funds primarily based on the number of arrests they make. This need for high

levels of arrest and conviction causes them to depend on unreliable information, and weak

evidence to build cases and convict at higher rates. (Drug Policy Alliance) These type of Law

enforcement agencies also aid in severe social stigmas and racial biases, typically arresting and

incarcerating African-Americans at a rate 5-6 times the rate of white citizens. If African-

American and Hispanics citizens were arrested at the same rate as white citizens based on similar

charges the incarceration rate would drop forty percent (NAACP).

They have been successful in their mission of arresting drug perpetrators and placing

them behind bars, but does this necessarily solve the problem especially considering the high

cost that is related to this choice? Not particularly, a better alternative would be to reform our

drug laws to cut cost for these agencies and focus these funds on social factors that attribute to

drug addiction. These funds could be spread out to open and run extra homeless shelters, provide

accessibility to better rehabilitation programs, and open specific clinics for drug users to reduce

the spread of disease and the unnecessary traffic in hospitals due to overdoses and drug seekers.

Many if not all the laws that are in place impact those who obtain, use, and sell

substances such as marijuana, heroin, cocaine, psychedelics and opiates. Ironically enough, those

laws don’t apply to all facets of our society. For example, our medical system and

pharmaceutical companies are federally screened and have guidelines they must follow based on

the FDA regulations, but their standards are far less restrictive then our common drug laws. Most

of the laws in place dictate strict testing, and transparency of effects of medications, this does

establish a specific guideline for what is “safely” put on the market while they suspend drugs that

is far more detrimental to a being life and standard of living. There is however a lack of
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production laws and distribution laws of highly addictive and sometimes unnecessary

medication. For instance, Methadone, Oxycodone, Hydrocodone are the most common opioid

prescriptions that are used to treat chronic and severe pain along with post procedure discomfort.

There was a significant rise in these prescriptions and manufacturing in the late nineties, Doctors

were increasingly prescribing these drugs especially OxyContin based on the notion that they

were considered “non-addictive”. Unfortunately, the drug was misbranded by its pharmaceutical

company Purdue Pharma and was in fact highly addictive. Purdue Pharma owned by the Sackler

Family did receive consequences for their false narrative of the drug by paying out roughly 600

million dollars between federal fines and civil suits, which is a minuscule amount compared to

the 4.3 billion that they made overall off the drug (National Library of Medicine, Frontiers in

Psychiatry). Making that an insignificant punishment and fine when measured next to the cost a

typical citizen pays and their income along with unsettling terms of typical jail/prison time for

drug related crimes. On average opioids are prescribed to 215 million patients a year and abused

by roughly 2 million Americans resulting in an average of 90 overdoses a day (U.S. Department

of Health). Prescription painkillers are also directly linked to heroin use with a staggering 80%

of heroin users starting their drug use with prescription pills. So, at that rate why aren’t more

Pharmaceutical owners and Doctors in Prison at the same frequency other drug dealers are?

Okay, that may seem a little radical but the point being is if these drugs are legally prescribed,

produced, and sold with that many number of addictions and deaths why are less addictive and

less dangerous and more helpful drugs like Marijuana and Mushrooms criminalized? An

Alternative to this issue would be to legalize most drugs that don’t contain these harmful effects

while reforming the production of the ones that do, incorporating laws to prevent the over

prescription and overproduction of highly addictive drugs, regulations should include by-laws
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that commit pharmaceutical companies to provide thorough patient education regarding

controlled substances, funded rehab programs at low to no cost for the adverse effect of addiction

that their medications cause, laws that limited the amount produced annually by each company

along with the limit of prescriptions allotted for a specific controlled substance. These solutions

could help aid in addiction education and overdose.

Drugs should be treated from a social standpoint not a lawful one. If they were to be

continuously incorporated into legislative then there should be guidelines and by laws for those

who choose to use, like the laws of people who choose to consume alcohol. Alcohol is highly

addictive, it can be very dangerous personally and socially and was once outlawed like the drugs

that are banned today during the prohibition. However, prohibition was overturned because of its

ineffectiveness it resulted in the spike in crime rate and heightened gang activity that was related

to the bootlegging and distribution of underground alcohol. Today alcohol is highly regulated by

the government these laws ensure the choice of the individual to drink while also establishing

consequences for those who do so irresponsibly. Many people believe that allowing drugs to be

legal is going to cause everyone or most of our population to become addicts and vagrants, but

that’s not what happened with alcohol? Sure, most of our population has consumed or uses

alcohol which can be quite addictive and dangerous yet their given the choice to be responsible

and mindful of the repercussions of their use despite there being a large number of our

population that has used alcohol there is just as large of a number of the population who doesn’t

drink on a regular basis or at all. With the correct reform it just ensures that those who choose to

use aren’t unreasonable chastised and would only be responsible legally if they don’t follow

guided laws for use. If we reformed drug laws as we did with alcohol I believe that would help

drop the rate of gang crimes along with unnecessary drug charges that tie up our law
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enforcement agencies from focusing on true criminal activity. It would further help destigmatize

those who do have addiction problems and want to seek help but fear the social stigma that’s

associated with their problem.

The hardest part of drug reform is ultimately reforming people’s perceptions and

understanding of drugs. Many know that mind altering substances date back to the beginning of

time being used by religious guides for spiritual awakening, treatments for ailments, stimulants

to power and motivate those through long hours of strenuous work, and honestly just for fun in

social settings. The recreational use of drugs is still highly apparent in our culture and widely

accepted based on what type of drug you use. Nicotine, Alcohol, and caffeine are legal they’re

also the most widely used and socially accepted simulants in Western Civilizations. Nicotine and

alcohol not only take first place in the popularity contest but also win in highest death rates based

on lifestyle choice and top charts for addiction. So how is it that these stimulants are considered

“acceptable” while other drugs are demonized despite being less toxic and less addictive?

Socially we have been conditioned to be okay with the risk that are related with alcohol and

nicotine, most are educated thoroughly on these risks and effects from a young age and taught

that it’s our choice on how we use these types of drugs, were restricted to a specific age of

consumption for use and punished for misusing them in an irresponsible fashion, such as

drinking and driving. We as a culture maintain that there is a difference between using drugs or

using alcohol and nicotine, with that we continue to breed the stigma of drug use. Rather than

recognizing that even the socially acceptable and legal substance we use are too drugs. If we

could dismantle this mindset and educate people on the differences in types of drugs and their

uses along with educating the major differences between drug use, drug abuse and addiction our

ideals as a society could shift for and a better understanding and awareness could be
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implemented.

This Social Stigmatism follows drug addicts like a constant shadow, alienating them from

society and typically restricting them to lower and impossible means of living. Convicted drug

users and drug dealers experience a more grueling time rebuilding their lives after conviction.

Finding placement in a job force proves tricky typically those willing to hire ex-convicts are

lower paying jobs with an average pay rate of 9 dollars an hour. To make matters worse it’s

completely legal to refuse low-income housing and financial aid for schooling to those convicted

of drug charges. In doing so this makes it even more difficult to build and new more

“constructive” life for themselves. Despite being hopeful and putting in the effort to stay clean

or trying to go down a “straighter” path for most this alienation and stigma lends a hand at

pushing them off the edge. They turn to what they know and what they’ve been able to rely on

by returning to the circle of committing drug crimes to support their selves and families or by

using again to ease the unappealing narrative that’s been created for mistakes they’ve committed

and lack of hope in a better life.

The war on drugs created a huge economic impact, growing racial inequities and social

issues, and is astonishingly linked to the current opioid epidemic. Despite the many laws and law

enforcement agencies, the demand for drugs has remained at a steady and constant pace.

Reforming drug laws and focusing on the social and health issues that addictions contributes too

would allow for our society to prosper financially and encourage proper treatment and decrease

in those struggling with addiction.

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