Thre Federal Drug Policy

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Introduction The US has a complex patch that has been demonstrated in its framework and enforcement practices that are associated with drug laws. A number of federal and state policies have been formulated that sometimes seem to overlap hence giving rise to a number of conflicts among the different level of governments. This essay will explore and demonstrate the federal drug policy that the US Federal Government is designing and the issues of federalism that the policy raises. The US Drug Policy The current US drug control policy has a big concern for the drug abuse context and the general public health especially due to the fact that it is being to young Americans. According to Gaines $ Miller (2010 p.383), the drug prevention is incorporated in form of three elements and has been put under the White House Office, National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). Priorities of ONDCP Termination of drug use before initiation; this focuses on preventing use of drugs and is done by research based programs Focus on providing heals and treatment to America’s drug users and abusers. This involves programs that are of intervention and drug abuse nature which aim on sustainable recovery of drug users and provision of after care. The third focus is to unsettle the drug market. This is done by attacking the supply side of the drugs History The history of drug use dates back to the 19th century during the US Civil War. This saw a number of policies being introduced and by the year 1898, heroine was inaccessible. The next drugs that were targeted were alcohol and by the year 1906, the US Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act (PFDA) to help stop the use of such drugs. The next drug that was targeted was opium and an act was passed in 1909 to ban... ... middle of paper ... ... states have done this although in different ways. This however does not mean that the national government has been left from a constitutional perspective as it must turn to the “equal protections” clause to claim a clearer and broad mandate for action. However, it seems the Drug Policy is left open for debate. Conclusion Policymaking in federal system is fraught with challenges. The Constitution is vague on how the federal government and the national government are to share their responsibilities. There has been an ongoing challenge to sort out roles and responsibilities as far as drug regulation is concerned. However, in spite of the complexity, the federal system provides opportunities for participation by citizens and government officials. As a result, we can have a successful policy making benefits from broad participation of all involved stakeholders.

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