War on Drugs

9 Pages 2297 Words

imum prison sentence for some drug offenses. The federal prison population begins to soar since the sentence is under increasing stiff guidelines. State prison population also begins to climb, so state legislatures move to enact stiffer, longer sentences. In 1986 President Reagan signs the Anti-Drug Abuse Act which includes a large number of mandatory penalties for drug possession, drug trafficking, and other drug crime. Also in 1986, was the “Just Say No” campaign begins and is aimed at combating teenage drug use and included the Drug free and Communities Act. In 1988, create the National Drug Control Policy. The ONDCP is putting charged of coordinating the policies, goals, and objectives of the federal government’s drug control programs. William Bennett is appointed director in 1989, and is unofficially dubbed the U.S. “drug czar.” From 1989 on, the military becomes heavily involved in the War on Drugs especially in South America and Mexico. Cocaine was flowing into the U.S. through places like Miami and San Ysidro, CA. New policies were implemented to provide drug-producing countries like Columbia with billions of dollars in weapons, and airpower. President Bush took over where Reagan left off and targeted the cocaine utilizing a three-part strategy: 1) Pressing the Andean source countries to eradicate coca leaf cultivation, 2) cutting the flow of drugs northward from the Caribbean and Mexico, 3) demanding draconian law enforcement for domestic users and dealers. The last major event in the War on Drugs came in 1997 when President Clinton launched a huge anti-drug public information campaign. The president’s plan called for a $350 million prime time advertising blitz designed to counter rapidly rising teenage drug abuse rates; half the funds are to come from the federal government, the other comes from the private sector. The total 1998 spending on the “War on Drugs” totals just under $16 billion (Pasto...