Alfredo Gonzalez

April 18, 2016

WRT-101
Professor Martinez

Reporting Information on Narcotic use in the US

The abuse of narcotics has been present in the US dating back to the 1700s, drug abuse
has been present since then is still present among the youth and adults in the US. *Starting in
1971 The war on drugs was initiated by President Richard Nixon, sparking worldwide debate
on whether stopping the manufacturing and sale of narcotics in the US, and whether enforcing
prohibition of various drugs would stop it altogether. With this so called war came
unprecedented consequences with massive impacts on the youth and drug consumers, including
mass incarceration, increase in gang related violence, and increased crime rate in the suburbs.
Now in 2016 the consumption of illegal substances has not changed, but has created countless
jobs and is now being viewed as a market opportunity for both law enforcement opposing drug
consumption, and black market dealers making more money than ever.
The negative side of the war on drugs is one of the more noticeable aspects of the
movement. Starting in the early 1770s drug consumption was relatively normal throughout the
youth in the US. Drug consumption was viewed as youth rebellion in a way, and the consumers
where criminalized and thought by the government as a negative impact in the society. This
negative impact on society was illustrated by president Nixon, it was believed however president
Nixon went on to criminalize drug users for his campaign against them. With such depictions of
drug abusers by president Nixon, there was no doubt he would receive support from law
enforcement and his own followers.

*Youtube, Hunterhttpthompson. "Richard Nixon War On Drugs 1972."YouTube. YouTube, 20 May

2010. Web. 08 May 2016.

According to Tom LoBiancos report from CNN.com the war on drugs was created by
Richard Nixon to target the blacks and the hippies. It was said that it was a political tool used
by him for winning his campaign.
The narcotic abuse in the US from then on has not been the same, meaning the side
effects of drugs and the prohibition of drugs has increased greatly in the past twenty years. When
President Nixon announced narcotics such as heroin, marijuana, cocaine, and crystal meth
public enemy number one, the game changed. Not only were administrations initiated like the
DEA (drug enforcement administration) but the increase in law enforcement personnel was
measured drastically. With this proclaimed war on drugs came the complete opposite however,
when the DEA reduced the supply of drugs from flowing into the US, without first reducing the
demand.
At the start of the so called war drug/ narcotic abuses where highly criminalized, with
the belief that these abusers and suppliers would stop all together. Instead what the US got was
known as the balloon effect. By stopping drug production lines from running into the US in one
area, it increased productivity on another line. This caused the US to hire more personnel and
increase hours to cover an entire area. By reducing drug trafficking flowing into the US at the
border, the cartels have had to move to further and more suitable countries in order to evade
productivity halt and incarceration. This move has saved the US money by eliminating the threat
at the border and increased US productivity in southern Mexico and to other countries such as
Peru, Colombia, and many other Central American islands.
With the movement or drug cartels now out of the US, and production lines being seized,
the supply of drugs is over, right? Wrong, the demand for drugs never changed, the only

difference was that in 2001 to 2005 the price for cocaine sky rocket due to the mass halt in
production in the US. This lead to a high demand, which is when the cartels stepped in and began
mass importation and smuggling of drugs, and now that it was proclaimed illegal, drug
traffickers responded with much more aggressive tactics to prevent capture. Now that the drugs
were smuggled in, they cannot be sold immediately, they make their ways to local dealers who
sell the drugs to the demanding abusers for profit. All of this has been happening nonstop since
the proclamation of the war on drugs, and has increased the need for law enforcement and
criminal justice majors.
With such events unfolding, the now mass production and smuggling of narcotics to the
US, and the billions of dollars floating around in the black market, the police and drug
enforcement administration step in. In 2014 an estimate of 1.5 million arrests were made in the
US alone for drug offences, these drugs included but where not limited to; Marijuana, crack
cocaine, and heroin. 83% of those where just possession of the substances listed, the other 17%
was the sale of such substances. Now with the consumption and sales of such narcotics being
criminalized in such as way there is no doubt narcotics dealers would result in more secretive
and aggressive tactics.
With so many people being arrested and incarcerated the prison system in the US had to
expand. This affected the lives of millions of people, including non-violent drug abusers, and
traffickers. *For example the US alone has approximately 5-6% of the worlds population, but
has 25% or the worlds prison population. This is because of the minimal sentencing listed to
such offenses. With so many people going to prison for substance abuse, it is evident that more
prisons had to open up to compensate for all the inmates. Which in long term helped create more
jobs, but at the same time costing the average American more money than usual. From Vera

researchers in 2013, they found that tax payers where paying $39 billion annually. This was
considered by the government as a reasonable amount considering the amount of inmates housed
in the prisons and jails. Now with health costs included each inmate in the United States costs tax
payers roughly twenty thousand dollars per inmate. This is with housing, clothing, food, health,
and cell maintenance.
The war on drugs has caused an uprising in jobs and opportunities for law enforcement
agencies and the military. It has provided the safety neighborhoods and cities need by
incarcerating drug traffickers and preventing the flow of drugs into rural areas. It has also
provided national safety by moving most of the violence out of the United States and pushed
mass drug production into central American countries. It has also proved to be devastating to
society as a whole in the US. It has been the cause of mass incarceration, violence in central
America, and mass spending coming out of the tax payers dollars. All of this while drug cartels
still manage to push a variety of narcotics into the US, and be richer than ever.

Works Cited Page:

Nixon on the war on drugs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsrxpVUKUK0
Balloon Affect:
https://www.academia.edu/889972/The_Balloon_Effect_The_Failure_of_Supply_Side_Strategie
s_in_the_War_on_Drugs
Global Supply of Narcotics: https://www.tni.org/files/download/brief6.pdf