War On Drugs Analysis
Writer’s Rationale
In this Writer’s Rationale, I will be covering the topic of the “War on Drugs” to convince legislators that it has proven to be a phenomenal waste of time and money, incarcerates minority people disproportionately, and does not solve the drug problem at all. To show that they should work to repeal all applicable draconian drug laws immediately. The reason legislators need to hear this argument immediately is that since Richard Nixon initiated the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, we the American taxpayers have spent $51 billion annually in this incredibly ineffective war against our citizens, in which nothing has changed or improved since we began. The “War on Drugs” is an extremely important topic …show more content…
Nixon initiated the “Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, ” this created the need for a new federal law enforcement agency dedicated to enforcing the act fittingly called the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1973. At first, Nixon emphasized for rehabilitation treatment of drug addicts, particularly heroin addicts, but soon the D.E.A. resorted to incarcerating drug users. In 1982, Nancy Reagan started touring elementary schools preaching the now infamous slogan “Just Say No,” referring to saying no to using illegal drugs because of a growing concern that children may become drug users. Nancy’s antidrug awareness tour wasn’t a completely selfless act on her part, though, because by portraying drugs as a threat to children, the Reagan administration was better able to pursue more aggressive federal antidrug legislation. An example of this would be the Antidrug Act of 1986, which established a 100-to-1 ratio difference in the mandatory minimum sentencing of crack cocaine to powdered cocaine possession. To receive a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence a person would have to possess 5,000 grams (11 pounds) of powdered cocaine, but only 50 grams (1.8 ounces) of crack cocaine were required to receive the same sentence. A racial difference in the prosecution of drug crimes was set up through this act since the majority of powdered cocaine users were rich white “yuppies” that …show more content…
Also to show that they should work to repeal all of the applicable draconian drug laws immediately. I have covered some history of the topic from the last forty-six years, which hopefully shows how necessary it is to end this morality war madness finally, and how the “War on Drugs,” has disproportionally targeted minorities with discriminatory
In this Writer’s Rationale, I will be covering the topic of the “War on Drugs” to convince legislators that it has proven to be a phenomenal waste of time and money, incarcerates minority people disproportionately, and does not solve the drug problem at all. To show that they should work to repeal all applicable draconian drug laws immediately. The reason legislators need to hear this argument immediately is that since Richard Nixon initiated the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, we the American taxpayers have spent $51 billion annually in this incredibly ineffective war against our citizens, in which nothing has changed or improved since we began. The “War on Drugs” is an extremely important topic …show more content…
Nixon initiated the “Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, ” this created the need for a new federal law enforcement agency dedicated to enforcing the act fittingly called the Drug Enforcement Administration in 1973. At first, Nixon emphasized for rehabilitation treatment of drug addicts, particularly heroin addicts, but soon the D.E.A. resorted to incarcerating drug users. In 1982, Nancy Reagan started touring elementary schools preaching the now infamous slogan “Just Say No,” referring to saying no to using illegal drugs because of a growing concern that children may become drug users. Nancy’s antidrug awareness tour wasn’t a completely selfless act on her part, though, because by portraying drugs as a threat to children, the Reagan administration was better able to pursue more aggressive federal antidrug legislation. An example of this would be the Antidrug Act of 1986, which established a 100-to-1 ratio difference in the mandatory minimum sentencing of crack cocaine to powdered cocaine possession. To receive a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence a person would have to possess 5,000 grams (11 pounds) of powdered cocaine, but only 50 grams (1.8 ounces) of crack cocaine were required to receive the same sentence. A racial difference in the prosecution of drug crimes was set up through this act since the majority of powdered cocaine users were rich white “yuppies” that …show more content…
Also to show that they should work to repeal all of the applicable draconian drug laws immediately. I have covered some history of the topic from the last forty-six years, which hopefully shows how necessary it is to end this morality war madness finally, and how the “War on Drugs,” has disproportionally targeted minorities with discriminatory