War+on+Drugs

**Anti-Drug laws have been in effect as far back as 1914 but when the war on drugs was officially declared in 1971 by President Nixon, the U.S. was taking serious action than in past years. The mission with the war on drugs is to use military action to stop illegal drug trade and use. The war on drugs is a wide spread campaign organization in which the United States helps numerous countries including Panama, Columbia, and Mexico, also trying to stop their problems with illegal drugs. The war on drugs got its name because soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War developed addictions to some illegal drugs. As TIME magazine would claim, “It’s a war without a clear enemy.” This war is difficult to fight. Almost every President after Nixon took action against illegal drugs to help put an end to this invisible enemy. Carter campaigned against the use of marijuana in 1976. Subsequently, in 1979 the increase of cocaine caused public violence in a Miami, Florida mall. Then years later in 1984 during the Reagan presidency, first lady, Nancy Reagan started the “Just Say No” campaign. This was an anti-drug campaign initiated to help children understand why it is wrong to use drugs and understand violence is wrong. This campaign was just a small part of the war on drugs. After the 80’s there were even more laws and matters done to end the abuse of drugs.**

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= = =Growth of Drugs= =**Legalizing Drugs**= =**Government Involvement**= =Success in the war=
 * There was an increase of lose of illegal drugs from the government having to declare war on them. In the 1975 when President Nixon discovered that some soldiers while fighting the Vietnam War had illegal drug problems, he decided drastic things had to be been in order to stop problems. He declared that illegal drugs were the “public enemy No. 1.” This however was just one of many problems that initiated the war on drugs. There were also several incidents that lead to deaths of 40 people within one week which was known as the Medellin Massacre. The United States has also had to deal with the smuggling of illegal substances from other countries, for example the U.S. and Mexico border has had a huge problem with that. These problems with the borders especially have risen continually and people are almost willing to do anything to get across the border and sell their drug. This is probably one of the biggest problems that helped create the war on drugs. The U.S. guards the American/Mexican border trying to stop illegal people as well as illegal drugs. The two countries are working together in order to keep both countries safe and drug free. These are the types of problems that caused the war on drugs to grow out of control.**
 * media type="youtube" key="B-vlBHqkVDU" width="382" height="315" align="right"The fight for the war on drugs has not always been easy. Some would say that illegal drugs should just be legalized. They believe it would help free the country to focus on more important things like health care and national security. As Judge Thomas Wiseman once said, “We’ve just about lost a generation of young people. We’re building new prison beds at the rate of about 1000 a week and we’re still overcrowded…We’ve spent $100 billion on the war on drugs and we’re losing it.” War in general is not necessary easy and it can definitely have its pros and cons. The government has had an increase of imprisonment of drug abusers and or dealers, which is good but that has helped the cause of prisons being overcrowded. The streets might have fewer drugs but they might have more rapist or robbers who were released in order to keep the drug people in. Also all the money the U.S. is spending has to come from somewhere, taxpayers have an extra load with paying for this war. With all the money spent on this war there has not been that much progress and that does not make people too happy. Even current president, Obama states that the war on drugs is “counter productive” however it does not mean the Obama administration believes in legalization of illegal drugs.**
 * The U.S only has spent over $2.5 trillion dollars against this war. Still with all that money what progress have they[[image:War_on_drugs.jpg width="320" height="273" align="right"]] gotten? Over 19.9 million Americans use illegal drugs and this figure is constantly rising. The government has used anti-illegal drugs advertisements and has “increased incarceration rates and a crackdown on smuggling”; still the problem continues to rise. New drugs have been created and a common uprising of overdosing on over the counter drugs. Things like cough syrup have killed many people and the sad thing is teens are the main people doing this, ranging in particular from 15 to 16 years old. These types of problems have caused liver failure and sadly even death. With teens or even children it’s a different story on how they have to handle the situation. Programs like DARE and Just Say No can help keep young people aware of drugs and their effects. The government is educating the student in the U.S. but it is still up to the children to make their own decision and obviously things like peer pressure can have a lot of influence on that decision. This year alone over 644,740 people have been arrested for drugs and that number is continually going up. The government is definitely taking action to keep the streets safe but the drug industry is bigger than they can handle. All the government can do is to continue to make an effort and wait to see the outcome.**
 * Although the war on drugs has been ineffective, it has had some form of helping minimize the use of illegal drugs. A program called,RAND which was founded in 1948. This program was to use military action to hinder illegal drugs from coming into the U.S. hoping that it would help reduce the usage of drugs. When the first two strategies were used, they both failed and had no outcome on the illegal drug usage. Later however during the Clinton presidency, RAND again made an effort to stop the drug use by instead of using the law they started some treatment programs. This program was somewhat successful, it was 23 times more victorious than anything used in the drug on wars in previous years. Then later during the George W. Bush presidency there was a drop in marijuana however the request did not. That caused the price to rise.**

=**Analysis**=
 * The war on drugs has continuously been fought for the past 20 years. Plenty of effort has been put into it but this war honestly has barely diminished problems with drug use. In fact over these past 20 years the use of drugs has increased dramatically. The hardest thing about this war is we’re fighting against ourselves. We clearly losing this war and it need to be ended. If this war is not ended it should be modified to make a difference. Thousands of people have been jailed; billions of dollars have been spend but those same people go back and use the drugs again. We just cannot fight this, this way anymore it is inefficient. **
 * This war has not been easy and the consequences have not been pretty. This war only has caused a growth of violence media type="youtube" key="KPw6wk-ytEk" width="382" height="315" align="right"among drug users. Drugs are not cheap and the addicts will willingly steal money in order to get the substances they feel like they desperately need. Plus with stealing people can get hurt depending on where or how the money is stolen. Drug use is a medical problem that leads people to desperation for the substance. They are willing to do almost anything to get drugs. When incidents occurred when people were being killed by drug violence the U.S definitely had to take action. Also the war has lead to many Mexican trying to sneak themselves and their illegal drugs to sell. Although heavy guard is at the border their still willing to attempt be make a profit especially with this economy. For people like teens who are limited on their sources for illegal drugs they have turned to over the counter drugs and their source to get the same high feeling. A popular method is cough syrup overdosing which has actually killed people. Some of these teens could be victims however because they could have a parent or parents who have been drug users and send to jail. These children could have gone through foster care or a system for child care. Sadly 70% of the children of drug addicts end up in that same position and the cycle continues. The war on drugs has definitely taken a toll on average American citizen because they have to pay their tax money in order to help pay for the war on drugs. The billions of dollars spend had to come from somewhere. **
 * Obviously the war was influenced by the vast use of illegal drugs. When things lie violence began to take place because of drugs the government could not sit and watch forever. They decided with all the probable causes that it was time to end this but they did not. But something or things had to influence the use. There was a time period in which many Americans were being rebellious against the government, this in particular started during the Vietnam War. The use of illegal drugs was a way for people to protest against the government. Also after the war although the protesting continued the development of hippies also continued to the illegal drug problem. Hippies were big on drugs after the Vietnam War and could have had a huge impact on the population experimenting with substances. **
 * The war itself will always be a part of America’s history but for many generations the use of illegal drugs was a way of life. The use of illegal is a problem that the American population has had to deal with for decades. It’s nothing the country should be proud of but there is a significant amount of history that is shameful but we just have to learn. This war represents a body of people who are perplexed. Our society is changing constantly and sadly the use of drugs has become part of our culture. What the war is supposed to do is change that, but it has not. This war represents how hard it is to go against your own people and fight them. That makes this war impossible to win. This war is an invisible war that is a part of our everyday lives, it goes much unnoticed. Everything from guarding the border to a cop arresting a drug user is all a part of this idea will call the war on drugs. **


 * Work Cited**
 * Boldin, Michael. "Campaign For Liberty — The War on Drugs Is a War on You by Michael Boldin." // Campaign For Liberty // . 02 May 2009. Web. 17 May 2011. < []>**
 * Eddy, Mark. "CRS Report for Congress." // USembassy // . 3 July 2006. Web. 17 May 2011. . **
 * Suddath, Claire. "A Brief History of The War on Drugs - TIME." // Breaking News, Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com // . Shocking: Apple IPad for $24.87; Penny Stock Soaring 3000%; Military Tuition Assistance, 25 Mar. 2009. Web. 19 May 2011.. **
 * "War on Drugs - Pros And Cons." // Men's Movement and Men's Rights - Fathers For Justice // . Web. 17 May 2011. . **
 * "Thirty Years Of America's Drug War | Drug Wars | FRONTLINE | PBS." // PBS: Public Broadcasting Service // . WGBH Educational Foundation, 1995-2011. Web. 17 May 2011. . **
 * "Drug War Clock." // DrugSense // . 19 May 2011. Web. 19 May 2011.. **
 * "Mexican Drug Trafficking." // The New York Times // . 1 Feb. 2011. Web. 17 May 2011. . **