Preview

Drug War

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2495 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Drug War
Daniel Schifrin
APCP Research Paper
Period 8

Drug Policy: A Look at America’s Ineffective Approach to Drugs

Introduction In January 2004, senatorial candidate Barack Obama firmly opposed the twenty two-year war on drugs, saying that the United States’ approach in the drug war has been ineffective (Debussman). Although the term, “war on drugs,” was originally coined by President Richard Nixon in 1971, it wasn’t until Ronald Reagan announced that “drugs were menacing society” that it became a major policy goal to stop widespread use. Following Reagan’s promises to fight for drug-free schools and workplaces, the United States boosted its efforts in its most recent declaration of war. Thirty years later, at the Summit of the Americas, President Obama staunchly opposed the legalization of drugs in a classic political flip-flop, claiming that unregulated use of drugs would be more corrupt than the status quo (“Blunt Talk”). The president’s view is naïve and inaccurate. The legalization of drugs is the most effective way to decrease corruption and violence in Latin America. Legalization would result in less crime across the region, less money for drug cartels, and significantly reduced corruption in Latin American governments. Background Since Reagan’s declaration, the war on drugs has been a dismal failure. The New York Times book review quantifies the extent of the war’s failed approach, saying that it is hard to think of a single lasting accomplishment. (Guillermoprieto). Eradication efforts have worked against what the war intended to do, and have actually increased drug production in Latin American countries. Although Columbia spends six percent of its annual GNP on drug eradication (Guillermoprieto), the amount of land devoted to growing coca in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru has risen to more than 700 square miles. These are the highest levels of cultivation since 2001. (“Coca”).



Cited: Andreas, Peter. "Profits, Poverty and Illegality: The Logic of Drug Corruption." Business Information, News, and Reports. 1 Nov. 1993. Web. 24 May 2012. . "Blunt Talk." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 May 2012. . Bronsther, Jacob. "Guns, Drugs, and La Barbie: Why America Is Responsible for Mexican Drug Cartels." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 02 Sept. 2010. Web. 17 May 2012. . "Burn-out and Battle Fatigue." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 17 Mar. 2012. Web. 17 May 2012. . Carpenter, Ted Galen. Bad Neighbor Policy: Washington 's Futile War on Drugs in Latin America. New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2003. Print. Debusmann, Bernd. "Obama and the Failed War on Drugs: Bernd Debusmann." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 May 2012. . Doward, Jamie. " 'War on Drugs ' Has Failed, Say Latin American Leaders." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 07 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 May 2012. . Ellingwood, Ken, and Tracy Wilkinson March 15. "Drug Cartels ' New Weaponry Means War." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2009. Web. 29 May 2012. . Kenny, Charles. "Kenny: The Failed War on Drugs." Newsday. 17 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 May 2012. . Leff, Alex. "SALON." Latin America 's Drug War Evolution. 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 May 2012. . Leff, Alex. "Should Latin America Legalize Drugs?" CNN. 16 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 May 2012. . "Mexico Drugs War: Corruption Grows on US Border." BBC News. BBC, 06 Oct. 2011. Web. 17 May 2012. . Miron, Jeffrey A. "Commentary: Legalize Drugs to Stop Violence." CNN. 24 Mar. 2009. Web. 17 May 2012. . "The New York Review of Books." An End to the War on Drugs? by Alma Guillermoprieto. 12 Apr. 2012. Web. 17 May 2012. . O 'Connor, Anne-Marie. "Hillary Clinton Urges Latin America to Fight Drug Corruption." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 06 Mar. 2010. Web. 17 May 2012. . Wood, Ethel. AP Comparative Government and Politics: An Essential Coursebook and Study Guide. 5th ed. Reading: Woodyard Publications, 2011. Print.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Thesis: The Mexican president Felipe Calderón’s war on drugs has seen some progress, but it has come at a heavy price to the people who live there and the neighboring countries.…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    "Failed States and Failed Policies: How to Stop the Drug Wars." The Economist 5 Mar. 2009: n. pag. Web.…

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Legalization of Marijuana

    • 2091 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Gray, James P, (2001) Why our drug laws have failed and what we can do about it: A…

    • 2091 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mark A.R. Kleiman, Jonathan P. Caulkins, Angela Hawken. Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know. Oxford University Press, 2011.…

    • 1430 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Shane, James, Rich, & Rob. (2010) Losing Effort: The United States “War on Drugs”. Retrieved…

    • 865 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Horwitz, B. (2010). The Role of the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD): Confronting the Problem of Illegal Drugs in the Americas. Vol.52 (Issue 2), p139-165. Retrieve from Kaplan University’s library at: http://ehis.ebscohost.com.lib.kaplan.edu/eds/detail?sid=d045ea7c-e3f3-4aff826223f78598d9e9%40sessionmgr11&vid=13&hid=101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=bth&AN=50826105.…

    • 1045 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Best Essays

    The DEA faces a great issue in preventing and ending the war on drugs. Wood states, “Mexico, a country all too familiar with violence as a way of life, is today a stark example of how crackdowns on drug cartels by American and local law enforcement agencies have utterly failed” (Wood, 2010, ¶ 7). Drugs, violence, and guns are the main influence to a never-ending drug war. The war created by the United States by demand of drugs has been a major issue for the government and citizens of the United States. The United States have declared that it is doing its best to combat the war on drugs. The drug problem has not stopped and the people continue to buy drugs no matter what circumstances they are obtained. With drugs prices rising, people are willing do anything to get drugs even if it leads them to become involved in criminal activities such as robbery.…

    • 2608 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Silver or Lead

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Our government tries to fight too much from the wrong side as Javdani tells us “In an attempt to find the quickest way around a complicated problem, each year the United States sends billions in aid dollars every year to the governments of Latin American ‘drug source’ countries” (403). This statement by Javdani shows just how lopsided the war on drugs is. Our government believes if we bring the fight to the source, we can stop the drugs from coming into our country and therefore win the drug war. As Javdani tells us, this is not the best approach as most landowners in these Latin American countries do not have a choice of whether or not their land is cultivated for drugs. Drug lords control vast areas of these Latin American countries with impunity. Our aid dollars and military equipment are not enough for these governments to secure the country sides for their citizens, lack of training and support for law enforcement combined with widespread government corruption ensure that the majority of our aid dollars to these countries fail to stop the drug flow.…

    • 331 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The war on drugs has been an ongoing fight that many presidents and foreign allegiances have tried to stop the trafficking, distribution and use of illegal drugs into the United States and around the world. Policy and laws have been created and maintained and changed to try and prevent illegal drugs being made in other countries as well as the United States and from being brought across the borders into the United States. The punishment for the drug traffickers and users has been an issue with the campaign to stop illegal drug use and trafficking. Through the United States history the president’s and their administration have been focusing on how to deal with the war on drugs by making laws, arresting people for their illegal activities and most recently giving drug addicts professional help.…

    • 1776 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Drug War Research Paper

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Shirk, David. The Drug War in Mexico : Confronting a Shared Threat. New York City, 2011. E-Book.…

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Legalizing Marijuana

    • 1604 Words
    • 7 Pages

    * Zion, Sidney. "ARM YOURSELF AGAINST THE "WAR ON DRUGS"" Lycæum - Entheogenic Database & Community. Fall 2009. 13 Feb. 2011 <http://www.lycaeum.org/drugwar/>.…

    • 1604 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Clemmitt, M. (2007, January 5). Prison health care. CQ Researcher, 17, 1-24. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/…

    • 1299 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Cited: De Lama, George, "US. Unable to Take Much of a Bite Out of Drug Traffic from Mexico." Chicago Tribune. Chicago: Sunday April 17, 1994.…

    • 2855 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The international issue of drug cartels and the threats posed by drugs has been approached in many ways and have altered throughout its history. Its deleterious effects on citizens and national governments have been most brutally evident in Latin America. The expansion of drug cartels and their increasing authority and influence in Latin America posses various national and international threats. Additionally, the contradicting notions on the root of the conflict in Latin America have stalled and created extreme variation among possible solutions, ranging from military action to eliminating corruption to settling border disputes.…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Drug Cartels in Mexico

    • 2243 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The Mexican drug cartels have been a cancer that has grown through out Mexico. Influenced by Colombian cartels, such as the Pablo Escobar’s Medellin and the Cali Cartel. In 2008, over 5,600 people were killed in Mexico; many were torture/or beheaded (Hixson, 2009). It has stretched from the border town of Tijuana all the way to the beaches of Cancun. Many people have been robbed, tortured, kidnapped, injured, and murdered through out the domestic drug war that is going on in Mexico. Police officers have been known to take bribes from different drug traffickers, which has given more power to the drug cartels. Even some politicians have been accused of being backed by particular cartels. Felipe Calderon, Mexico’s current President has taken many tactics from Colombian government to stop the drug war in Mexico. In Scott Johnson’s article “The Mexican Drug Connection”, Johnson has a mix of true and false statements. For instance although Mexican Drug Cartels have networked with Mexican gangs to disturbed drugs in the United States, border towns like San Diego and El Paso close to drug cartel infested cities haven’t had a “Spillover” of violence. Even though Americans are not being affected by the “Spillover” of violence going in Mexico, we are still being affected indirectly. The objective for this paper is to…

    • 2243 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays