USU Democrats: War on Drugs

In 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” in the United States, which would guide the country’s drug policy and enforcement for decades to come. Continued through the presidencies of Reagan and Clinton, millions of non-violent criminal offenders have been put in prison in the past 40 years. While the rate of violent crime, burglary, and theft have declined over the past decades, our prisons remain overcrowded with people convicted of drug offenses. It is safe to say that the “war on drugs” has been a total and complete failure.

The United States leads the world when it comes to incarceration rates, and it is not close. While the U.S. makes up just 5% of the world’s total population, it also has 25% of its people who are prison. This is in large part a result of the war on drugs. With minimum sentencing requirements, prisons that are for-profit, and misguided laws, there is a viscous cycle of imprisoning people in the United States. As a way for politicians to get elected, they have made campaign promises with slogans such as “cleaning up our streets” and “just saying no to drugs.” Not only were these promises misguided, the policies resulting from them have failed horrendously. The effort to reduce illegal drug sales and consumption completely fell flat. Not only have consumption and purity of these substances gone up, black market prices have gone down, making it more readily available.

The drug war has had an especially devastating effect for minority communities. While African-Americans comprise just 13% of the country’s population, they make up 31% of those arrested for drug-related offenses, and 40% of those who are in prison for drug law violations. This is in spite of the fact that rates of illegal drug consumption and sales are roughly equal between ethnicities. These laws have torn families apart, and put millions of non-violent drug offenders behind bars. African Americans and Latinos are far more likely to be put in jail for these offenses, as a result of these erroneous policies.

This country needs to change the way it looks at these problems. Instead of seeing drug use a criminal issue, it should be seen as a health issue. This is why the decriminalization of drugs would be an excellent start in the effort to decrease the rate of imprisonment, as well as help people with their drug problems.  People who have addictions should be able to get the help they need, without the fear of being punished. The U.S. must acknowledge that the drug war is a failure, and move on. If we really want to decrease the use of dangerous drugs, we should allow people to help themselves and not split up families.

— Sam Jackson is a sophomore at USU, studying political science. Originally from College Park, MD, this is his second year in Logan. He is the vice president of the USU College Democrats, and is a member of the Government Relations Council on campus. Outside of debating politics, Sam enjoys playing sports and graphic design.