What Role Did The War On Drugs Play In The Mass Incarceration

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The War on Drugs has played a significant role in the mass incarceration seen today. The War on Drugs refers to heightened law enforcement activity and harsher punishments in order to eliminate illegal drug use. It started in the 1970’s when President Richard Nixon proclaimed that “public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse,” and “to fight and defeat this enemy is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive.” Since then the number of people admitted to prison for drug related crimes has risen about 1000 percent (politifact.com). “Most Americans can now agree that the war on drugs was not an effective approach to either addressing drug related crime, and that its policies worsened racial disparities in incarceration (Nellis).”

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