The War On Drugs Was Never About Safety
"A look at the statistics shows a war that’s failed. We can either cling to past ideas or forge new ones based on the facts."
The War On Drugs was — and is — an attempt to control a part of human nature that doesn’t want to be controlled.
No matter where you fall on the political spectrum, most of us have a healthy distrust of the government. Reasons for this vary, depending on whether you’re far left, far right, or somewhere in between, but few are sold on the idea that politicians have our best interests at heart.
Sure, there are a few good people who want to make a difference (especially at a local level), but as a whole, politics is about money and power. The War On Drugs is no different, and an article on the Department of Justice’s website agrees.
Maybe we should be questioning why the government overlooks the dangers of socially acceptable drugs — think alcohol, (commercial) tobacco, and prescription medications — that do more harm than many Schedule I substances like marijuana.
How We Got Here: The War On Drugs 101
The War On Drugs has been going on for so long, most of us can’t remember a time when it hasn’t been around.
How did it start, and how has it changed over the years?
We’ll cover the recent timeline below, starting with President Nixon. However, if you’d like a much more comprehensive analysis — tracing the modern war on drugs all the way back to the ancient salt tax in China over 2000 years ago, check out our recent podcast with Vincent Rado — author of “Drugism.”
War On Drugs History
1970: President Nixon signs the Controlled Substance Act (CSA), outlining five “schedules” that categorize substances according to their potential for abuse and medicinal value.
June 1971: Nixon officially declares war on drugs.
July 1973: Nixon creates the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA).
1973-1977: Eleven states decriminalize marijuana.
1977: Jimmy Carter becomes President after pushing for marijuana decriminalization. The Senate Judiciary Committee votes to decriminalize up to one ounce.
1984: First Lady Nancy Reagan launches her “Just Say No” campaign.
The mid-1980s: Drug transport changes routes due to the Florida Drug Task Force, making the Mexican border the new entry point. Crack is developed and becomes popular in New York’s inner-city neighborhoods.
October 1986: President Reagan signs the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, allotting 1.7 billion to the war and creating mandatory minimum penalties for drug convictions. These penalties are highly criticized for creating a racial imbalance in the prisons. Crack, a cheaper, more addictive, and more accessible form of cocaine, is prevalent among lower-income communities and has a harsher penalty.
1989: President George H. W. Bush creates the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
May 1995: The US Sentencing Commission recognizes the racial disparities and suggests minimizing the discrepancy between crack and cocaine penalties. Congress overrides the commission’s suggestion for the first time in history.
August 2000: President Bill Clinton gives $1.3 billion to Plan Colombia in an effort to reduce cocaine production in the country.
April 2003: The Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act is enacted, targeting “predatory” drugs, methamphetamine, and ecstasy.
2009: Support for the War on Drugs starts to decrease, and states begin to decriminalize drugs.
2010: Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA), reducing the massive discrepancy between crack and cocaine penalties.
2021: The Drug Policy Reform Act of 2021 is introduced to Congress. If passed, this bill would decriminalize drugs for personal use and bring about massive reform to the current drug policies.
Thirty-six states have legalized marijuana for medicinal use, eighteen states have legalized it for recreational use, and thirteen have decriminalized it.
It’s important to note that legalization and decriminalization are not the same thing.
What’s Wrong With the War On Drugs?
Why not wage a war against drugs? After all, it sounds like a noble thing to do. It’s supposed to protect kids, clean up the streets, and reduce things like addiction and crime — right?
Like most politicized ideas, it looks good on paper but hasn’t produced the desired fruit. In fact, it’s done quite the opposite. Take a look.
1. It Costs A LOT of Money
We’ve spent far too much money on the war (over a trillion to date and almost $41 billion in 2022 — and they want approval for even more).
To give an idea of just how big one trillion is:
A stack of $100 bills equaling one trillion dollars would be 631 miles high (2.5 times higher than the space station).
One trillion dollars is enough to buy all of the shares of McDonald’s, ExxonMobil, and Coca-Cola — and still have billions left.
It would take 31,710 years to spend one trillion dollars at $1 per second.
It would take 542,241 years to count to one trillion.
2. It Permanently Ruins People’s Lives
We’ve locked up a lot of people, effectively ruining their lives, over non-violent crimes like possession of marijuana. According to Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), more than a million people are arrested for simple drug possession each year.
By the end of 2018, there were 1,249,700 sentenced people in US state prisons; drug offenses were the most serious charge for 176,300 (14.1%) of them. About 46,500 were charged with simple drug possession (3.7%), and 129,900 were charged with manufacturing, selling, or other drug offenses (10.4%).
3. Finding Help Is More Difficult
We’ve made it much more difficult for people facing addictions to find help. Overdoses increase yearly, sometimes drastically.
Our World In Data has an excellent interactive chart showing the number of deaths from tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs each year from 1990 until 2019. Deaths from illicit drugs — which steadily rise despite the war — pale in comparison to those that come indirectly from alcohol and tobacco. It’s shocking, really.
Here’s the data from 2019, thanks to Our World In Data.
NPR (National Public Radio) quotes Dr. Nora Volkow, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse since 2003 — “The best outcomes come when you treat the substance use disorder [as a medical condition] as opposed to criminalizing that person and putting them in jail or prison.”
And while it’s easy to say they put themselves in danger and there’s a simple fix — just get help and stop using drugs — it isn’t that simple (ironically, one form of therapy that could help beat addiction involves Schedule I substances). If you think it’s easily done, then no offense, but you’re part of the reason people find it so difficult to reach out.
No one wants to face judgment and humiliation. Empathy and love are good things and are probably highly endorsed by your religion. If not, science is still on the side of those struggling with addiction. Check out Drugs, Brains, & Behavior: The Science of Addiction Treatment & Recovery.
4. The Cartels Are Thriving
We created the drug cartel. According to the US Department of Justice, “US prohibitionism created an extremely profitable climate for drug smugglers to use Mexico as a country for both production (marijuana and heroin) and transit (cocaine)… Realities of the “war on drugs” have dragged the Mexican government into adopting increasingly punitive programs that have rendered drug manufacture and smuggling more appealing.”
That was published in 1995.
The war has made things worse, and there’s no sign of progress coming any time soon.
These Tripsitter articles explain it better:
The following can also help paint a clearer picture:
Four Decades and Counting: The Continued Failure of the War on Drugs
How the War on Drugs Impacts Social Determinants of Health Beyond the Criminal Legal System
New Documents Reveal the Bloody Origins Of America’s Long War on Drugs
5. The True Motives Were Never Clear
It’s possible this entire war was based on ulterior motives. Not in every case — most people really did have the best intentions.
However, we need to consider what went on behind the scenes. In an interview in 1994, John Ehrlichman, Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon, said:
“You want to know what this [war on drugs] was really all about? The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
Was this the true heart of it all? We won’t know for sure, but it’s something to think about.
What About the Kids?
Does relaxing the drug laws mean putting kids in danger? No, not at all.
A recent review shows that decriminalization did not decrease the age at which kids first tried drugs, nor did it cause a drop in prices. The United Nations (UN) endorses a public health approach (versus criminal sanctions) and sees drug abuse as a disorder, not a crime.
The best way to promote a healthy mindset is to talk to your kids about drugs. If you know the facts, maintain a good relationship with them, and have ongoing conversations, your kids will be better equipped to handle peer pressure and know how to make good decisions.
Won’t Decriminalization & Legalization Cause More Problems?
Reducing or removing penalties by legalizing or decriminalizing drugs may or may not increase crime or other social problems or cause drug use to increase. Some opponents suggest crime, including violent crime, may go up.
We only have a few examples of places that have taken this step to draw from, and the rest is speculation. This can be terrifying — legalizing drugs could open Pandora’s box; we don’t know what will happen.
Here’s what we do know.
A 2023 study showed that adults living in a state with legalized marijuana were not more likely to break the law or have problems with their relationships, jobs, or mental health.
Switzerland seems to be doing it right, and they have decades of proof. In 1994, the country adopted “the most progressive and controversial drug policy in the world.” Platzpitz Park is a beautiful place now, but its nickname, “Needle Park,” hints at its dark past. You’d never know it, but it was once riddled with thousands of heroin users and dealers — law enforcement pretty much left them alone. HIV and overdose rates rose to record levels, and the government knew something drastic had to be done — and drastic they did.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?
Switzerland adopted the following four-pillar policy, starting a new trajectory for its citizens.
Health promotion, prevention, and early detection
Therapy and counseling
Harm reduction and risk minimization
Regulation and enforcement
As a part of these pillars, they started a needle exchange program and opened safe injection rooms and shelters. The government, police, organizations, and communities started to work together.
Between 1991 and 2010, Switzerland saw an incredible change. Overdose deaths dropped by 50%. There were 65% fewer HIV infections. New heroin users decreased by 80%.
Portugal is another example. The world closely watched as it decriminalized illicit drugs. The country once had an opioid epidemic, similar to the US, but has seen drastic changes since it started to treat drug abuse as an illness instead of a crime. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), “Portugal now has the lowest drug-related death rate in Western Europe, with a mortality rate a tenth of Britain’s and a fiftieth of the United States.”
Sounds fantastic, but the solution is not perfect, and I’m not presenting reform as an end to all drug-related problems. Benzodiazepine use is still prevalent in Switzerland. People still die from overdoses. Drugs are still an issue in places that have made the move. However, now the focus is on helping, not convicting. Forcing compliance only pushes people in the opposite direction.
There’s a lot more to dig into as far as other countries that are good or bad examples of how to handle the drug problem.
We suggest the following:
The United Nations: Approaches to Decriminalizing Drug Use & Possession
Switzerland Couldn’t Stop Its Drug Users. So It Started Supporting Them.
20 Years of Portuguese Drug Policy – Developments, Challenges, and the Quest for Human Rights
Want to Win the War on Drugs? Portugal Might Have the Answer
National Library of Medicine: Should Drugs be Decriminalized? Yes.
Govinfo (gov): The Pros & Cons of Decriminalization, Legalization, & Harm Reduction
Decriminalization Works, but Too Few Countries Are Taking the Bold Step
Is decriminalization or legalization a cure-all? Absolutely not — BUT our current method isn’t working. People are hurting, and we’re not helping. In fact, we’re making the situation worse.
The Middle Way: Seeking a More Balanced Approach
A look at the statistics shows a war that’s failed. We can either cling to past ideas or forge new ones based on the facts.
The War on Drugs hasn’t protected the youth, prevented drug use, stopped addiction, or halted drug smuggling. It has created overcrowded prisons, destroyed lives, and empowered drug cartels.
What’s next?
Become informed, stay active with local laws, and be open and honest with your kids. The best way to keep them safe is by providing them with love, support, and accurate information.
Positive change might not be immediate, but it will come if we work together.
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I clearly see the argument. I am a prescribed ketamine user. I have benefitted immensely from ketamine. I know the risk to my urinary tract and am taking precautions. Government regulation of
"Controlled Substances" is entirely counter-productive. It prevents, or at least inhibits, those of us who greatly benefit from these drugs from accessing them. Just the lives saved from people with suicidal ideation who would NOT suicide if they had ketamine would overwhelmingly improve our mortality/morbidity statistics. Same arguments for MDMA and psilocybin.