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Understand the evolution of the war on drugs
The evolution of the war on drugs
Legality of the war on drugs
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A Nameless Inmate shouts to the camera behind bars in the Documentary “The house I Live In, he shouted “Just wipe me out straight off the map for nothing. 57 years for a small rock . I wanna know why i’m treated like I murder somebody? The war on drugs, a war made invisible to society, but one of the most destructive wars in our nation today.Politician’s call it a successful proposition for the nation, following the motto- go hard or go home,Politician's Increasing the sentencing of drug related crimes by the hour, Law enforcements cleaning up the streets.Locking up every drug offender that cross their paths. Politicians and law enforcements making the war on drugs a number one priority for our nation's wealth and safety.Politicians believing these method will teach the drug offenders a lesson and stop corrupting our streets. Government official’s call it a successful investment for our country.More prisons systems mean more employment opportunities for our government employees. Its a win win situation ,employment increase and drug offenders are off the streets. you would think? When it comes to the topic of war on drugs,most of us will readily agree that the war on drugs is not about the drugs But about the people. Many Politicians and law enforcement will argue that the war on drugs is about our nation's wealth and safety.however they don't see the destruction the war on drugs has caused; The war on drugs has recreated this new system of discrimination among the minority community, individuals and communities are being profiled,their rights as citizen are being seized ,individuals being stripped away from their families. They’re being locked up with no hope to live the American dream in their our country. As a resul... ... middle of paper ... ...e families and chances of the individual going back to square one. Ultimately the question that we should ask,have we as a nation approach the war on drugs fairly ? Is the war on drugs about the drug or is it about our people? I can honestly say with my head held high its not about the drug but about the people. .We as a nation don't gain anything if we strip our people from their rights and abandoned them. As Lisa D. Moore, DrPH and Amy Elkavich, BA noted, “Everyone should be able to access quality health care and education inside and out of prison. We should support ex-felons after their prison terms in their attempts to find meaningful employment, housing, and education.” We all live under one nation and should strive to be the best nations and allowing people to seize our rights as citizen is irrational. We need to step up and ask for change!
... Furthermore, the war on drugs creates a path dependency through economic interests. The policies allow the government to seize users and dealers property. In addition, some states sell bonds to build prisons and the state has deals with the companies that provide services to the inmates. The drug war is the New Jim Crow because it empowers the state with the tools to target, and denies African Americans civil rights, citizenship, and justice in the pretext of elaborate criminal changes that serve as a means to furthermore disenfranchise African Americans.
The War on Drugs is believed to help with many problems in today’s society such as realizing the rise of crime rates and the uprooting of violent offenders and drug kingpin. Michelle Alexander explains that the War on Drugs is a new way to control society much like how Jim Crow did after the Civil War. There are many misconceptions about the War on Drugs; commonly people believe that it’s helping society with getting rid of those who are dangerous to the general public. The War on Drugs is similar to Jim Crow by hiding the real intention behind Mass Incarceration of people of color. The War on Drugs is used to take away rights of those who get incarcerated. When they plead guilty, they will lose their right to vote and have to check application
Liberal and Conservative Views on the War on Drugs Drug use has been an ongoing problem in our country for decades. The use of drugs has been the topic of many political controversies throughout many years. There has been arguments that are for legalizing drugs and the benefits associated with legalization. Also, there are some who are opposed to legalizing drugs and fear that it will create more problems than solve them. Conservatives and liberals often have different opinions for controversial topics such as “the war on drugs,” but it is necessary to analyze both sides in order to gain a full understanding of their beliefs and to decide in a change in policy is in order.
America's War on Drugs: Policy and Problems. In this paper I will evaluate America's War on Drugs. More specifically, I will outline our nation's general drug history and look critically at how Congress has influenced our current ineffective drug policy. Through this analysis, I hope to show that drug prohibition policies in the United States, for the most part, have failed.
This essay will be focusing on the incarceration and war on drug of black community and minority in the United State. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander discuss who the war on drug effect minority in American. What will be discuss in this paper or the question I will be answering are How has the War in Drugs impacted low-income people and communities of color, particularly African Americans? How has the Drug War disenfranchised a large segment of the American population? How have race and class influenced the functioning of the criminal justice system, especially in relation to policing, the enforcement of drug laws, and sentencing? Do you agree or disagree with Alexander’s contention that the current criminal justice system has resulted in a “New Jim Crow”? Why or why not?
Jewkes, Y. And Johnston, H. (2006) Prison Readings: A Critical Introduction to Prisons and Punishment. Willan Publishing Devon.
The argument over drug reform and the current prohibition has been going on for years. It seems to be an argument between a wise parent and a young teenager, but as generations change more and more of the parents seem to switch sides. While prohibitionists say the mainstream drugs like cocaine, heroin, LSD, and marijuana are harmful and immoral, legalizers argue the opposite (Rachels 223). While they are both valid and interesting arguments the drugs named above still remain illegal. Many organizations and respected citizens have come to America’s attention in their support for drug reform or complete legalization of certain drugs. These people range from normal citizens who support the recreational use of marijuana to judges and ex- law enforcement agents who say the war on drugs has been a failure. The drug issue in the United States of America has been going on for years with the counterculture of the sixties up until the more recent medicinal marijuana debates today, and it seems that it is not going to go away anytime soon.
I base my support of the decriminalization of all drugs on a principle of human rights, but the horror and frustration with which I voice this support is based on practicality. The most tangible effect of the unfortunately labeled "Drug War" in the United States is a prison population larger than Russia's and China's, and an inestimable death toll that rivals the number of American casualties from any given war, disease or catastrophe.
As described in novel The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference the course of any trend, movement, social behavior, and even the spread of a virus has a general trend line that in essence resemble a parabola with 3 main critical points. Any trend line first starts from zero, grows until it crosses the first tipping point, and then spreads like wildfire. Afterwards, the trend skyrockets to its carrying capacity (Galdwell, 2000). Then the trend gradually declines before it reaches the next tipping and suddenly falls out of favor and out of memory. Gladwell defines tipping points as the “magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire” (Gladwell, 2000).
Making drugs legal will reduce massive amounts of money spent on enforcement every year. The MPP (Marijuana Policy Project) estimates that marijuana consumers cost taxpayers more than $7 billion dollars annually (MPP). Year after year, money is thrown away trying to stem the flow of illegal drugs into our country. When one drug lord is caught, two show up somewhere else to take their place. For every drug bust, four more make it through to the United States. For example, in his book Intoxication, Ronald K. Siegel talks about the very first significant international anti-drug campaign: Operation Intercept, the first major assault on marijuana use. This operation captured 493 drug runners at the Mexican border. Very few drugs were confiscated, and no change in marijuana use inside the United States was recorded (280). Today, billions of dollars are spent each year to combat drug use, but no real concise victories are evident. Drugs are still bought, sold, and used everyday. The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found that the number of first-time marijuana users in 1998 was 2.3 million. This number increased significantly compared to 1.4 million in 1989 (DEA). These figurers alone show that money spent on enforcement has had no effect. President Ronald Reagan said it best, "Despite continuing expressions of determination, America's war on drugs seems nowhere close to success.
In short, it highlights the racial dimensions of the War on Drugs and argues about the main reasons why so many black men are being wrongfully held behind bars. It also examines the rights that are taken away from them and how the government is stopping them from becoming normal members of society on the inside and outside. Convicted felons cannot vote for life, and wrongfully convicted felons cannot vote for life. As a result of their criminality, they are legally discriminated against in their ability to obtain housing, employment, education, and public benefits like Medicaid and food stamps. Rather than combat drug activity, the War on Drugs has served as a deliberate strategy to control people of color and remove them from the political process, which is racist in both application and
In the media the “war on drugs” is depicted as extremely dangerous and full of foreign cartels. But, this isn’t necessarily the case. Almost half of U.S. prisoners are convicted for nonviolent drug-related offenses. These crimes come with the longest sentences for nonviolent offenses. Instead of persecuting large cartels or dangerous drug rings, the police are arresting petty drug dealers, who are usually men of color. Latino and African-American men are These long sentences are uncalled for, while also being a detriment to the incarceration system. The longer the nonviolent offenders are there and the more the police continue their “war on drugs”, the more overcrowded the prisons
A 2012 poll showed that 58% of Americans are in favor of decriminalization of drugs like Marijuana, as opposed to 12% back in 1969. [1] Many Americans feel that the war on drugs has failed, and that our police officers and other federal institutions could be making better use of their time, effort, and fiscal resources. The cost of this war on drugs has become so great. Not only does the war cost billions to enforce, but countless lives are lost as the cartels become more violent in their pursuit of power.
Furthermore, the war on drugs is not working and it is just spending money. It has put more people in prison that should not be there, and has lost many American lives. “The ...
In Illicit Drugs and Crime, Bruce L. Benson and David W. Rasmussen (Professors of Economics, Florida State University, and Research Fellows, the Independent Institute), reply with a resounding no. Not only has the drug war failed to reduce violent and property crime but, by shifting criminal justice resources (the police, courts, prisons, probation officers, etc.) away from directly fighting such crime, the drug war has put citizens’ lives and property at greater risk, Benson and Rasmussen contend.