Following events such as the deaths of Rodney King and Michael Brown and the resulting turmoil in Los Angeles, CA and Ferguson, MO, mainstream media coverage of racial disparities in the criminal justice have increased exponentially. As a result of these racial disparities, the Black Lives Matter movement has gained significant momentum by calling attention to the systematic racism that can be particularly tied to the Reagan administration’s adaptation of Nixon’s War on Drugs. Richard Nixon coined the term “War on Drugs” when he sought to instill policies that banned the production, sale, and use of illicit drugs. Currently in the United States, drug use and abuse is being treated as a criminal issue rather than a health issue. As a criminal issue, people struggling with drug addiction are not getting the help they need to overcome that illness. The way the U.S. Government currently addresses drug policy needs to be reformed as the current system is failing the public, especially minorities. Groups such as African American men are being disproportionally arrested for drug related crimes than other populations in the U.S. The war on drugs has completely failed in decreasing drug use and in turn has worsened public safety, is fundamentally racist, and is responsible for many of the current racial disparities in the United States’ criminal justice system.

Prior to the mid-twentieth century, many drugs that are illegal today were legal and perceived to be predominantly used for medicinal and spiritual purposes. However, during the “1960s, as drugs became symbols of youthful rebellion, social upheaval, and political dissent, the government halted scientific research to evaluate their medical safety and efficacy” (Drug Policy Alliance). Following this shift in the perception of drug use, during the summer of 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a “War on Drugs.” In the following years, despite Nixon’s War on Drugs, many politicians advocated for the decriminalization of marijuana possession and the drug war was not strictly enforced. By 1977, eleven states decriminalized Marijuana use. However, following this decriminalization of Marijuana, many parents grew concerned that teen drug use was on the rise and was detrimental to their children’s lives. The presidential term of Ronald Reagan is when the War on Drugs became categorized by mass-incarceration, media campaigns used to scare the public straight of drug use, and increased punishment for drug use and possession. Reagan’s campaign drastically changed public opinion of the severity of the United States’ drug issues. During this time the government issued several famous anti-drug PSA’s and started many anti-drug programs, such as “D.A.R.E.” specifically for high school students across the country in hopes that the programs would reduce the desires of young people to start using drugs. Former first lady Nancy Reagan led the “Just Say No” advertising campaign which evidently changed public opinion of drug use. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, “in 1985, the proportion of Americans polled who saw drug abuse as the nation's ‘number one problem’ was just 2-6 percent. The figure grew through the remainder of the 1980s until, in September 1989, it reached a remarkable 64 percent” (Drug Policy Alliance). This statistic shows how incredibly persuasive Reagan’s anti-drug campaign was in such a short amount of time and demonstrates the social shift in how Americans perceived the drug problem in the U.S.

Reagan’s war on drugs also led to the mass incarceration of drug offenders, even minor, nonviolent ones. According to the Sentencing project, “the number of people incarcerated for drug offenses in the U.S. skyrocketed from 41,000 in 1980 to nearly half a million in 2014 and today, there are more people behind bars for a drug offense than the number of people who were in prison or jail for any crime in 1980.” It is alarming that people who pose very little to society are being incarcerated while U.S. tax payers pay the price. The U.S. prison population has quadrupled since 1980 and “African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites” (NAACP). This racial inequality cannot be explained by higher rates of drug use among African Americans, as there is no evidence that drug use among races is unequal. This mass incarceration, including the over 500,000 drug offenders has resulted in overcrowding in prisons, unlivable conditions, and have cost the government and tax payers millions of dollars (Prison Policy Initiative). A criminal record can easily ruin lives. It is unfair that a person who has been convicted for a nonviolent, minor drug possession will have a difficult time finding work and will not have an equal chance at being a successful, contributing member of society because of their criminal record. Some drug related offences, including certain possessions of Marijuana, can result in a felony, which takes away a person’s right to vote.

Numerous anti-drug policies enacted by Presidents Nixon, Reagan, and even Clinton have had racist implications. The Drug Policy alliance has gone as far to say that “that the mass criminalization of people of color, particularly young African American men, is as profound a system of racial control as the Jim Crow laws were in this country until the mid-1960s”(Drug Policy Alliance). In his Ted talk, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, Ethan Nadelmann explains that “the reason some drugs are legal and others not has almost nothing to do with science or health or the relative risk of drugs, and almost everything to do with who uses and who is perceived to use particular drugs”(Nadelmann). This has been proven time after time during the history of the United States. Prior to the 1870’s, opium was primarily seen to be used by older white women to relieve pain. However, when Chinese immigrants came to the U.S. using opium after long days working on the railroads, laws were put into place banning the use of the drug. This illegalization was “driven by racist fears of Chinese transforming white women into opium-addicted sex slaves” (Nadelmann). Similarly, Cocaine was outlawed in the south for racist fears of Black men and Marijuana was criminalized against Mexicans. These drugs were not seen to be a problem when whites were perceived to be the primary users. Despite being nearly the same on a chemical and molecular level, the use of crack has more criminal punishments in the court of law than cocaine. The major difference is that crack is more commonly used in low income areas. The difference in criminal punishment can directly be tied with race. “Blacks account for nearly 90% of all federal crack cocaine prosecutions; black federal crack offenders were sentenced to far more prison time that white powder cocaine offenders” (Smith). This inequality can be tied back to racist “war on drug” policies, as (despite there being no evidence), crack was perceived to be used by African Americans more than whites. Currently there are still enormous inequalities between drug arrests between minorities and whites despite no evidence of disparities in drug use (Eckholm). Minorities are being failed by the government while whites are able to get away with the same crimes.

The war on drugs has been unsuccessful in reducing drug use and ensuring public safety. There is very little evidence that indicates a decrease in drug addiction since the early 1970’s despite immense government spending(Dai). No policy will ever completely eliminate drug use and abuse, because drug dealers will always find a way to supply drugs and addicts will always demand to purchase drugs. In fact, the policies established by the war on drugs can be to blame for organized crime, a massive black market, enormous drug cartels bringing large amounts of illicit drugs into the U.S., gang violence, the use of unsterile needles, as well as drugs that are laced with even more dangerous substances.

While there has been progress and success in many states with the legalization of medicinal and recreational marijuana, many of the unsuccessful policies of the War on Drugs are still in use today. Drug reform is currently extremely important. The black lives matter movement, which was started after the killing of Trayvon Martin, advocates to the equality or all races under the criminal justice system. This movement has brought the racial inequalities in this country to the forefront of main stream media. This is a very important topic at this time as many African men are being unfairly targeted by law enforcement and have even been killed because of it.  As president, 

Barack Obama dedicated himself to reform the racial disparities within the criminal justice system. The former president “[pledged] to address the epidemic of incarceration that disproportionately affects people of color, and speaking out against what he described as ‘a long history of inequity in the criminal justice system in America’” (Lowry). There has been significant progress in drug and racial reform, however, there is still a lot that needs to be done to reach equality and successful drug reform. Blacks and Latinos are still far more likely to be arrested for drug related crimes than whites despite very little evidence of disparate rates of use among the different races (NAACP). A study that examined arrests in Seattle, WA found that “blacks are significantly overrepresented among Seattle’s drug delivery arrestees” (Beckett 105). This is yet another example of how the war on drugs has led to racial inequalities in law enforcement.

Drug reform is extremely important during this time in American History. The black lives matter movement, which was started after the killing of Trayvon Martin, advocates to the equality or all races under the criminal justice system. This movement has brought the racial inequalities in this country to the forefront of main stream media. This is a very important topic at this time as many African men are being unfairly targeted by law enforcement and have even been killed because of it. 

There is no easy solution to the drug problem in America. Something needs to be done to reduce drug use, as well as help those struggling with addiction. The war on drugs focused on treating drug addiction as a criminal problem rather than a clinical problem. It has been clear since the War on Drugs began in 1971 that outlawing drugs is not an effective solution to end drug use and abuse in America. Several people and legislatures are beginning to acknowledge that while legalizing drugs seems like the counterproductive for reducing drug use, it may actually be beneficial. It would be sure to make drug use a lot safer, and reduce deaths. It also has the potential to dramatically reduce the rate of organized crime. Others theorize that a safer solution would be to decriminalize drug use by focusing on rehabilitation rather than incarceration. James Gray suggests that the U.S. should “adopt a more medical, public health-oriented approach to our national drug policy”(Gray). According to Gray, any effective approach to solve the nation’s current drug issues will contain the “four ingredients: Education, preventions and treatment, positive incentives, and Individual responsibility”(Gray.) Not only would this type of reform be beneficial for those who struggle with drug addiction, it would also cost the government and tax payers less money for more effective results than current policy.

Former chairman of the National Advisory Council for Drug Abuse Prevention James Q. Wilson argues that the legalization of drugs, specifically heroin, would only increase drug use. This may be true if proper measures are not taken to continue educate the public about drug use and abuse. Wilson does not take into account that clinical heroin would be heavily regulated as it is of course a fatal drug. It is unknown whether or not heroin use would increase just from being legalized, however it is certain that heroin users would be at far less risk of contracting HIV from unsterile needles, and they would not be using impure heroin with added lethal ingredients. Everyone can agree that the use of Heroin is an extremely dangerous drug. This being said, providing preventative education, rehabilitation, and positive incentives are necessary to reduce the use of heroin, as incarceration and current drug policy do not seem to be reducing Heroin use (Goldberg). By decriminalizing Heroin, rates of overdose would decrease exponentially as the drug would be regulated.

The decriminalization of all drugs is extremely taboo, however, some countries are giving it a trial run and finding success. Most notably, Portugal has decriminalized any and all drugs in 2001. In Portugal “drugs were still illegal, of course. But now getting caught with them meant a small fine and maybe a referral to a treatment program -- not jail time and a criminal record” (Ingraham). Since the new drug policies were established in Portugal, drug use among underage people has decreased, and overall drug use among adults has also decrease(Ingraham) A major difference that has happened since reform is the number deaths from drugs decreasing tremendously. People theorize that this is because users are using safer drugs and not using even more dangerous “legal” substances like bath salts or inhalants to get high. In their analysis of Portugal’s drug policies, the Transform Drug Policy Institute says "The reality is that Portugal’s drug situation has improved significantly in several key areas. Most notably, HIV infections and drug-related deaths have decreased, while the dramatic rise in use feared by some has failed to materialize." Portugal is an example of what happen can happen when addicts are treated rather than locked up. 

While the full legalization of drugs is not in the near future for America, it is important that some type drug reform happens soon. Hesitation on drug reform is mainly due to fear that drugs have the potential to ruin our country. Current policies inspired by the Drug War are fundamentally racist and have resulted in the racial profiling of minorities by law enforcement. The subsequent over-incarceration caused by the war on drugs is costing tax payers millions of dollars without a significant change in the rate of drug addiction in this country. Drugs and addiction are not easy topics to address. Discussing the legalization of illegal substances is predominantly looked down on. However, it is important that people keep an open mind to the decriminalization of drugs as it has the potential to save lives and ensure the equality that minorities deserve. Needless deaths can be prevented if the U.S. government changes the way that drug related crimes are dealt with. No matter what opinion someone has about the legalization or decriminalization of drugs, Everyone can agree that no one’s life should be cut short because of drugs. 
