War on Drugs

The War on Drugs is a phrase used to refer to a government-led initiative

that aims to stop illegal drug use, distribution and trade by increasing and
enforcing penalties for offenders. The movement started in the 1970s and
is still evolving today. Over the years, people have had mixed reactions
to the campaign, ranging from full-on support to claims that it has racist
and political objectives.

The War on Drugs Begins

Drug use for medicinal and recreational purposes has been happening in
the United States since the country’s inception. In the 1890s, the popular
Sears and Roebuck catalogue included an offer for a syringe and small
amount of cocaine for $1.50. (At that time, cocaine use had not yet been
outlawed.)

In some states, laws to ban or regulate drugs were passed in the 1800s,
and the first congressional act to levy taxes on morphine and opium took
place in 1890.

The Smoking Opium Exclusion Act in 1909 banned the possession,

importation and use of opium for smoking. However, opium could still be
used as a medication. This was the first federal law to ban the non-
medical use of a substance.

In 1914, Congress passed the Harrison Act, which regulated and taxed
the production, importation, and distribution of opiates and cocaine.

Alcohol prohibition laws quickly followed. In 1919, the 18th Amendment

was ratified, banning the manufacture, transportation or sale of
intoxicating liquors, ushering in the Prohibition Era. The same year,
Congress passed the National Prohibition Act (also known as the
Volstead Act), which offered guidelines on how to federally enforce
Prohibition.
Prohibition lasted until December, 1933, when the 21st Amendment was
ratified, overturning the 18th.

Marijuana Tax Act of 1937

In 1937, the “Marihuana Tax Act” was passed. This federal law placed a
tax on the sale of cannabis, hemp, or marijuana .

The Act was introduced by Rep. Robert L. Doughton of North Carolina

and was drafted by Harry Anslinger. While the law didn’t criminalize the
possession or use of marijuana, it included hefty penalties if taxes
weren’t paid, including a fine of up to $2000 and five years in prison.

Controlled Substances Act

President Richard M. Nixon signed the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)
into law in 1970. This statute calls for the regulation of certain drugs and
substances.

The CSA outlines five “schedules” used to classify drugs based on their
medical application and potential for abuse.

Schedule 1 drugs are considered the most dangerous, as they pose a

very high risk for addiction with little evidence of medical benefits.
Marijuana , LSD , heroin, MDMA (ecstasy) and other drugs are included on
the list of Schedule 1 drugs.

The substances considered least likely to be addictive, such as cough

medications with small amounts of codeine, fall into the Schedule 5
category.

Nixon and the War on Drugs

In June 1971, Nixon officially declared a “War on Drugs,” stating that
drug abuse was “public enemy number one.”
A rise in recreational drug use in the 1960s likely led to President Nixon’s
focus on targeting substance abuse. According to a 1969 Gallup poll,
about 48 percent of Americans thought drugs were a serious problem.

As part of the War on Drugs initiative, Nixon increased federal funding for
drug-control agencies and proposed strict measures, such as mandatory
prison sentencing, for drug crimes. He also announced the creation of the
Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention (SAODAP), which was
headed by Dr. Jerome Jaffe.

Nixon went on to create the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in

1973. This agency is responsible for tackling drug use and smuggling in
the United States.

At the start, the DEA was given 1,470 special agents and a budget of
less than $75 million. Today, the agency has nearly 5,000 agents and a
budget of $2.03 billion.

John Ehrlichman
During a 1994 interview, President Nixon’s domestic policy chief, John
Ehrlichman, provided inside information suggesting that the War on
Drugs campaign had ulterior motives, which mainly involved helping
Nixon keep his job.

In the interview, conducted by journalist Dan Baum and published in

Harper magazine, Ehrlichman explained that the Nixon campaign had two
enemies: “the antiwar left and black people.” His comments led many to
question Nixon’s intentions in advocating for drug reform and whether
racism played a role.

Ehrlichman was quoted as 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.”

The 1970s and The War on Drugs

In the mid-1970s, the War on Drugs took a slight hiatus. Between 1973
and 1977, eleven states decriminalized marijuana possession.

Jimmy Carter became president in 1977 after running on a political

campaign to decriminalize marijuana. During his first year in office, the
Senate Judiciary Committee voted to decriminalize up to one ounce of
marijuana.

Say No To Drugs
In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan reinforced and expanded many
of Nixon’s War on Drugs policies. In 1984, his wife Nancy Reagan
launched the “Just Say No ” campaign, which was an effort to educate
children on the dangers of drug use.

President Reagan’s refocus on drugs led to a significant increase in

incarcerations for nonviolent drug crimes.

In 1986, Congress passed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which established

mandatory minimum prison sentences for certain drug offenses. This law
was later heavily criticized as having racist ramifications because it
allocated longer prison sentences for offenses involving the same
amount of crack cocaine (used more often by black Americans) as
powder cocaine (used more often by white Americans).
Critics also pointed to data showing that people of color were targeted
and arrested on suspicion of drug use at higher rates than whites,
leading to disproportionate incarceration rates among communities of
color.

The War on Drugs in the 21st Century

Public support for the war on drugs has waned in recent decades. Some
Americans and policymakers feel the campaign has been ineffective or
has led to racial divide. However, others still passionately support the
effort.

In 2010, Congress passed the Fair Sentencing Act (FSA), which reduced
the discrepancy between crack and powder cocaine offenses from 100:1
to 18:1.

The recent legalization of marijuana in several states and the District of

Columbia has also led to a more tolerant political view on recreational
drug use.

Technically, the War on Drugs is still being fought, but with less intensity
and publicity than in its early years.

Citation Information
Article Title
War on Drugs
Author
History.com Editors
Website Name
HISTORY
URL
https://www.history.com/topics/crime/the-war-on-drugs

Philippine Drug War

The Philippine Drug War refers to the drug policy of the Philippine government under President
Rodrigo Duterte, who assumed office on June 30, 2016. According to former Philippine National
Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa, the policy is aimed at "the neutralization of illegal drug personalities
nationwide." Duterte has urged members of the public to kill suspected criminals and drug addicts.
[20]

Research by media organizations and human rights groups has shown that police routinely
[21]

execute unarmed drug suspects and then plant guns and drugs as evidence. Philippine authorities
have denied misconduct by police. [22][23]

The policy has been widely condemned locally and internationally for the number of deaths resulting
from police operations and allegations of systematic extrajudicial executions. The policy is supported
by the majority of the local population, as well as by leaders or representatives of certain countries
such as China, Japan and the United States. [24][25][8][26]

Estimates of the death toll vary. Officially, 5,104 drug personalities have been killed as of January
2019. News organizations and human rights groups claim the death toll is over 12,000.
[27]
The
[28][29]

victims included 54 children in the first year. Opposition senators claimed in 2018 that over
[29][28]

20,000 have been killed. In February 2018, the International Criminal Court in The Hague
[30][31]

announced a "preliminary examination" into killings linked to the Philippine Drug War since at least
July 1, 2016.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_Drug_War