War On Drugs

War on Drugs

There are many persons concerned about the drug problem we are facing today in America. The drug war that is been fought appears to be a losing battle. The United States has spent billions of dollars in an effort to keep drugs off our street, out of businesses, and out of our schools, and communities.

The 'just say no" movement led by the former first lady Nancy Reagan produced some results with high school students in that their marijuana use had declined. The overall drug use and abuse still exists even after ex- president Ronald Reagan pumped up the efforts in 1982 to fight the war on drugs which was followed and aggressively pursued by President Bush in 1989.

"In February 2001, D.A.R.E. announced it had received a $13.7 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to design and implement a new curriculum to increase education about drug abuse". There are many organizations and volunteer community groups as well as the law enforcement agencies trying to crack down on illegal drugs and usage however, there has been no significant change on the amount of individuals using illegal substances. Organizations such as D.A.R.E. which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education receives enormous amounts of funding for trying to curb drug use in schools, but its simply not enough. "In 2000, citing the lack of scientific proof of the program's effectiveness, the Department of Education announced that it would no longer allow schools to spend its money on D.A.R.E. After a 10 year follow up of 1,002 students they cited few differences between the groups in terms of actual drug use, drug attitudes or self-esteem."

Crime continues to be a problem. Our neighborhoods and streets are not safe as crime in relation to drugs continues to infest our cities. Crimes such as burglary, petty theft, or any other small time are more than often committed by someone with a substance abuse problem. They take any thing that has value and sell it or give it to the pusher who always seems to have an endless supply of whatever kind of drug their on.

Can we ever stop illegal drugs and their use? "The federal government says that roughly 6 percent of the U.S. population some 13 million people have used an illegal drug in the last month. Each year 52,000 Americans die due to drug use, which also causes tens of billions of dollars in damage to the U.S. economy." More and more people in America feel that if this country cannot stop illegal drugs, drugs should be legalized and controlled. Many believe that it will curb senseless violence that an addicted individual may create for him, or herself. "While the drug policy reform makes progress worldwide the physicians and medical institutions here in the United States show a growing support for reform."

Whether or not reform is the answer for certain drugs like marijuana one things for sure it is not going to go away and will always be readily available. Are our border wars helping or hurting? "The United States has spent the past 30 years fighting the so-called war on drugs. Americans have paid a heavy price financially, the drug enforcement budget is now $40 billion." The effectiveness of stopping illegal drugs coming into the U.S. has been a slap in the face for the people involved in this task. "A review of drug- interdiction activities and procedures by the U.S. Border Patrol found that its offices stored and seized drugs in an insecure manner, including in open areas on the floor of some Border Patrol stations. That chain of custody rules for handling seized drugs were not consistently followed, and that the agency lacked any consistent policy on the pursuit of drug-smuggling suspects who abandon drugs and flee." This investigation also found that more than 50 percent of immigrants arrested during these drug seizures were released and returned to Mexico. "Usually with no further processing for drug or immigration violations." In addition they were not even fingerprinted. Furthermore, a retired INS supervisor