This paper traces the history of federal drug policy in the United States, beginning with the 1960s drug epidemic and the formation of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs under President Johnson. It examines key policy shifts during the Nixon, Ford, and Carter administrations, the strengthening of enforcement under President Reagan, and the eventual recognition of incarceration's limitations. The paper analyzes the stated goals of drug policies—including border control, violence reduction, and harm minimization—while noting the tension between criminalization and treatment-based approaches. It concludes that modern drug policy increasingly emphasizes reducing collateral harms and providing treatment for non-violent offenders, rather than relying solely on enforcement.
The War on Drugs gave birth to multiple drug policies aimed at reducing the number of Americans who abuse drugs and slowing the flow of drugs across U.S. borders. Agencies across the nation have been engaged in counter-drug efforts and tasked with enforcing tough policies toward drugs. This paper covers the history of drug policies within the federal government, the purpose and effects of the "War on Drugs," and the goals that drug policies aim to accomplish.
The history of the War on Drugs dates back to the 1960s, when increasing numbers of Americans began using drugs for recreational purposes and considered drugs fashionable. People also used drugs to express their social rebellion toward the government. In 1968, President Johnson's administration consolidated several drug agencies and formed the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (BNDD) as a response. This consolidation served to reduce turf wars between the various agencies and reinforced collaboration efforts (Frontline, 2014). In 1969, Commissioner Myles Ambrose mandated that each vehicle crossing the Mexico-U.S. border be subject to a three-minute search. The operation, code named Intercept, lasted for two weeks, but it had no effect on the flow of marijuana into the United States (Frontline, 2014).
In the 1970s, drug laws changed again when Congress passed the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, which consolidated previous drug laws and reduced penalties for marijuana possession. This act also allowed law enforcement agencies to conduct no-knock searches. During a press conference, President Nixon named drugs as "public enemy number one in the United States." In 1975, President Ford released the White Paper policy, which gave priority to federal efforts addressing both supply and demand. Efforts would be directed toward drugs that inherently pose greater risk to individuals and to society (Frontline, 2014). The report stated that marijuana was a low-priority drug compared to heroin, amphetamines, and mixed barbiturates.
After President Nixon resigned, President Ford released the White Paper report stating that marijuana was a low priority on the drug war agenda. In 1976, Jimmy Carter campaigned in favor of decriminalizing federal penalties for the possession of up to one ounce of marijuana. President Carter stated he did not wish to fully decriminalize marijuana use, but as of today, multiple states have decriminalized marijuana possession, and additional states are currently proposing similar legislation.
Asset forfeiture was introduced in 1978 and allowed law enforcement to seize all money and other valuables if they were purchased with drug money. This decade demonstrated that the War on Drugs had two sides: on one hand, two presidents believed marijuana was a low-risk drug, but on the other hand, they simultaneously passed drug laws that granted law enforcement broader powers to fight the drug war (Frontline, 2014). The 1960s and 1970s revealed the government's initial stance toward drugs in the early stages of the "War on Drugs." During the 1980s, however, President Reagan would strengthen policies focused on the War on Drugs with one of the largest budgets devoted to counter-drug efforts in the United States.
The United States has struggled with the "War on Drugs" policy ever since Richard Nixon and Nancy Reagan championed it. The challenge has been to keep streets safe while ensuring that American children are properly educated about the dangers of substance abuse and drug addiction. Some question how a society can criminalize drug use when so many Americans engage in some form of substance use (Drugabuse.net, 2013). A key historical moment came in 1971 when President Nixon created the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), with the sole purpose of combating the massive amount of drugs flowing through U.S. borders. By 1994, the numbers were tallied and the War on Drugs had caused over one million people to be incarcerated within the U.S. prison system (Drugabuse.net, 2013). Although drug rates had declined, many leading sociologists found that these decreases were due to other societal factors rather than government policy.
In the 1930s, the United States attempted to eliminate alcohol from the country by making it illegal. This era is known as the Prohibition era and did not last long. Many lives were lost during this period, and soon after the law was enacted, it was repealed and alcohol became legal again (Drugabuse.net, 2013). There are valuable lessons to draw from this period in American history. It is fair to presume that drug abuse can cause significant damage and should not be recommended for recreational use. However, many argue that criminalizing drugs creates a dangerous criminal element within borders. Drug gangs have claimed many lives, and drug users who have been incarcerated instead of receiving treatment for addiction have seen their lives thrown into chaos (Drugabuse.net, 2013). In modern-day society, marijuana has been approved for medical use and sale in parts of the country, but many observers are closely monitoring these experiments to gauge their impact on communities and residents.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (2014), an estimated 23 million Americans have used or abused some form of illicit drug. The government has fought a prolonged and costly battle over the last 40 years to slow the distribution of drugs into the country. The purpose of drug policies, past and present, is to slow the distribution of drugs across U.S. borders and to minimize the violence and mortality rates that accompany the drug trade (Reuter & Caulkins, 1995). The use and distribution of drugs has proven to increase crime and mortality rates in areas where drugs are linked to incidents. Drug policies aim at minimizing the multiple negative results of drug abuse among Americans and crimes motivated by individuals under the influence of illicit substances. According to Superior Court Judge and drug policy reformer James Gray (2009), drug policies are in place to reduce exposure of drugs to children, reduce violence and crime, minimize health risks to drug abusers, slow the flow of drugs into the country, and reaffirm civil liberties.
The flow of drugs into the country and drug use among American citizens will be a long-term issue going forward. The purpose of drug policy and law enforcement effort is to help reduce the effects of drugs in general. Drug policies in previous decades held a firm stance against drugs but helped increase prison populations as a result. Newer policies aim at providing treatment to non-violent drug offenders instead of lengthy prison sentences to help lessen the burden on overcrowding. The problem lies with incidents related to drug abuse and everything that follows as a result of drug addiction. Newer policies aim at exploring ways of minimizing not just drug abuse but all other issues resulting from drug addiction. Drug policy goals should not only look at reducing drug abuse but also all related harms that affect the drug dependent and innocent bystanders (Reuter & Caulkins, 1995).
In conclusion, multiple drug policies over the last four decades gave birth to the strong stance against drugs seen today. The changes in policy during the 1960s and 1970s helped form different agencies whose primary focus is to counter the drug trade and help reduce the number of Americans who abuse drugs. The lack of consistent results and an increase in the nation's prison population since the 1980s have altered drug policy to reduce the number of individuals sent to prison for non-violent drug offenses. The War on Drugs continues to be prevalent in society today; however, new policies aim not only at reducing drug abuse among Americans but also at reducing the related harms that accompany drugs.
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