The War Against Drugs Has Failed

6 Pages 1380 Words

One of the major dilemmas in the United States’ legislation is the war against drugs. The War on Drugs has struggled since it was launched in 1968 by Republican Richard Nixon. “Nixon singled out ‘the problem of narcotics’ as ‘the modern curse of the youth’ of the country. He blamed an increase in crime on drug addicts” (Gottfried 53). While the primary intention of the War on Drugs was to reduce drug use in the United States, the prohibition of illicit drugs has brought many problems upon the American society. Dirk Chase Eldredge, a conservative republican and author of Ending the War on Drugs, states that prohibition “is a policy that can only fail because its objective – a drug-free America – is unrealistic and unattainable” (xi). Prohibition has created an uncontrollable black-market, deteriorated the race relations with African Americans and other minorities, and led to the over-crowding of prisons by criminals who have committed drug-related crimes. Although the War on Drugs costs billions of dollars each year, drug-users have not been threatened with the extinction of the presence of illicit drugs in America. In 1919, the sale of alcohol was prohibited due to the harmful effects alcohol can impose. The prohibition of alcohol led to many of the same results as the prohibition of illicit drugs has led to. According to John E. LeMoult and Ernest van den Haag, after the prohibition of alcohol began,
“a large industry soon grew up to provide it. Drinks remained easily available. Since the industry providing them was illegal, it required organizations outside the law to enforce contracts and collect debts. This led to the growth of major criminal entities that used the unlawful money earned to bribe corrupt law enforcement agencies. Prohibition ended by significantly debasing the political life of the nation, and there is no evidence it reduced alcoholism” (30).
Law enforcement can not reduce the use of dru...