Should We Continue to
Fund the War on Drugs?
Amy Chamberlain
Paul Fleischer
Alcione Frederick
Nick Hager
Do you remember?
Prohibition, the move to decrease alcohol
consumption in 1919
– National Prohibition Act (Volstead Act or 18th
Amendment) was passed by Congress in
1919
– The law prohibited the manufacture,
transportation and sale of beverages
containing more than 0.5 per cent alcohol,
particularly beer
Beer consumption reduced dramatically
Prohibition Consequences
However, this created the market for hard liquor
– Moonshine, bath-tub gin, home brewed spirits, etc.
In addition, the following happened:
– An increase in:
Substance-related deaths
Government spending to enforce the law
Judicial caseloads
Prison population
Violent crime, including murder
– The alcohol production and distribution became
decentralized and democratized
Organized crime boomed as criminals jumped at the chance
to quench the demand for liquor
However, most of the production and distribution was done
on a smaller scale by average citizens
The End of Prohibition
When the American people saw what
Prohibition was doing to them, they
supported its repeal through the 21st
Amendment in 1933
– Made the rules and regulations surrounding
alcohol control a State matter
– Within a few years, the production and
consumption of alcohol fell by 50%
Instituted the Three -Tier System:
– Producers, wholesalers, retailers
Drug War Clock as of Friday
10/22/04
Money spent on the War On Drugs in 2003:
$19.179 billion at a rate of approx. $600 per
second
People arrested for Drug Law offenses this year:
1,279,214
People incarcerated for Drug Law offenses this year:
191,773
History of Drug Laws
“1875 Anti-Opium Ordinance”, San Francisco – the
smoking of opium was forbidden in opium dens
“1914 Harrison Narcotics Act” – at face-value this was a
law for the orderly marketing of opium, morphine, heroin,
and cocaine in small quantities over the counter, and in
larger quantities on a physician's prescription “in the
course of his professional practice only”
1936 - Reefer Madness is released and shown to school
children as a deterrent for drug use
“1937 Marijuana Tax Act” - purpose of the Act is to levy a
token tax of $1 per ounce for authorized transfers on all
buyers, sellers, importers, growers, physicians,
veterinarians, and any other persons who deal in
marijuana commercially, prescribe it professionally, or
possess it
History cont….
1960s – Counterculture revolution!!! Recreational drug
use becomes fashionable among young, white, middle
class Americans
1970 - Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and
Control Act - consolidates previous drug laws and
reduces penalties for marijuana possession. It also
strengthens law enforcement by allowing police to
conduct "no-knock" searches
1971 - Soldiers in Vietnam develop heroin addiction
1971 - Nixon declares war on drugs. At a press
conference Nixon names drug abuse as "public enemy
number one in the United States." He announces the
creation of the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse
Prevention (SAODAP)
Controlled Substances Act
Schedule I (Most
Dangerous)
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
PCP
Ecstasy
Heroin
Marijuana
LSD
Quaaludes
Peyote
Magic mushrooms
Schedule II
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Codeine
Cocaine
Coca leaves
Amphetamine
Crack
Morphine
Oxycodone
Opium poppy and
derivatives
Controlled Substances Act
Schedule III
– Anabolic steroids
– Barbituric acid and
derivatives
– synthetic THC in
sesame oil/soft gelatin
– Testosterone
– Morphine combos
– Codeine combos
Schedule IV
–
–
–
–
Valium
Barbitone
Propacet
Halcion
Schedule V (Least
Dangerous)
– Codeine preparations
– Ethylmorphine
preparations
– Opium preparations
Who’s using?
According to the DEA, there are approx.
30-40 million US citizens who have used
an illegal drug within the last year or so –
this number, however, is speculated to be
significantly higher
The U.S. has 5% of the World’s population
but consumes 60% of its illicit drugs
Drug Usage Among Children
Since 1992, federal surveys indicate an
increase in adolescent drug use
The Office of National Drug Control Policy’s
plan for budgeting drug control during the
years 1998-2003 included spending less
than 12% on youth prevention – 12% of the
100 billion planned
The Research Triangle Institute reported
that – “DARE students were no less likely to
use drugs than students who were not
involved with the program”
In 1975, 87% of youths said it was “very easy” or “fairly
easy” to obtain marijuana. In 1998, 89.6% said it was
“easily obtained”
The Cost of The War on Drugs
Historical Drug Control Funding by Function
(Budget Authority in Millions)
FY 1998
FY 1999
FY 2000
FY 2001
FY 2002
FY 2003
FY 2004
Function
Actual
Actual
Actual
Actual
Actual
Request
Request
Total
8,179.0
9,760.1
10,703.0
10,401.4
11,485.0
11,239.0
11,679.3
Drug Treatment
2,002.5
2,230.8
2,296.8
2,549.4
2,604.1
2,691.4
2,941.4
Drug Prevention
1,385.5
1,461.9
1,500.5
1,598.1
1,697.1
1,558.3
1,496.3
Prevention
Research
219.6
249.9
280.8
326.8
367.4
396.5
411.8
Treatment
Research
322.2
373.5
421.6
489.0
547.8
590.8
611.0
Domestic Law
Enforcement*
2,378.7
2,542.2
2,679.9
2,925.9
3,270.3
2,937.9
3,036.1
International
464.0
746.3
1,619.2
617.3
1,084.5
1,103.1
1,078.9
Interdiction
1,406.5
2,155.6
1,904.4
1,895.5
1,913.7
1,960.9
2,103.3
*The Domestic Law Enforcement Category consists of money used for the criminal justice system, other
research, and intelligence.
What’s More Important –
Prevention or Enforcement?
FY 1998
FY 1999
FY 2000
FY 2001
FY 2002
FY 2003
FY 2004
Function
Actual
Actual
Final BA
Final BA
Enacted
Request
Request
Total
8,179.0
9,760.2
10,703.0
10,401.4
11,485.0
11,239.0
11,679.3
Drug Treatment,
Prevention &
Research
3,929.8
4,316.1
4,499.7
4,962.7
5,216.5
5,237.1
5,461
Law Enforcement
4,249.2
5,444.1
6,203.3
5,438.7
6,268.5
6,001.9
6,218.3
Represents money allocated, does not include outside
budget spending, in reality, figures are closer to $18 - 20
billion a year
Costs of Incarcerating Drug
Offenders
Costs to incarcerate a drug-dealer is as
follows:
“Arrest + conviction” - $150,000
“Additional Prison Bed” - $50,000-$150,000
“Yearly Housing” - $30,000 (Note: the avg
sentence is 5 years, which raises the # to
$150,000)
Approx. max. total = $450,000
Cost if estimated 30-40 million yearly drug
abusers were imprisoned – $10-$15 trillion
Incarceration Rates
According to the Department of Justice –
there are approx. 2 million people
incarcerated in the U.S.
U.S. leads the world in Incarceration Rates
– The number of people behind bars in the
United States for drug crimes alone now
exceeds the number of people in prison in
Europe for all crimes combined
% Federally Imprisoned by
Offense in U.S.
60.00%
Drug Offenses – 59.6%
50.00%
Robbery – 9.8%
40.00%
Property Offenses – 5.5%
30.00%
Extortion, Fraud, Bribery – 6.8%
20.00%
Violent Offenses – 2.7%
10.00%
Firearms, Explosives, Arson –
8.6%
0.00%
Offense
White Collar – 1%
Discrimination in Incarceration
Rates
Approx. “¼ of young American black men
are either in prison or on parole. Most of
them were arrested on non-violent drug
charges”
The rate for incarcerated whites is less
than ten times the rate of blacks
Arguments FOR the Drug War
A state cannot tolerate or be involved with the
distribution of immoral substances
Recreational use of certain drugs is unhealthy
and dangerous for the user's body
Drugs are addictive, they rob the user of free will
– A drug user can’t make an informed and rational
decision to continue using drugs
If illegal drugs were legalized, dealers would
invent more dangerous and addictive drugs in
order to maintain their profit
Arguments FOR cont…
Drug use is dangerous to people other than the
user, in the rise of health care costs, violence
associated with the use of drugs and neglect of
children by drug-addicted parents
If drugs were legalized, the companies that
manufacture and market them would be sued,
as have the tobacco companies
Drug use negatively impacts the economy in the
form of users missing work and doing poor work.
Soft drugs, such as marijuana, are “gateways” to
harder drugs – cocaine, heroin
Arguments FOR cont…
If illegal drugs are legalized, the FDA will have to
be shut down, meaning that all health and safety
restrictions on foods and drugs will be
eliminated. Massive epidemics of diseases,
overdoses and accidental drug interactions will
occur
Once legalized, corporations would advertise
and promote addictive drugs to increase profit
“We have to protect the children”
Arguments AGAINST
If the goal of a state is to protect citizens' health
and well-being, drugs should be legalized so
that their purity can be monitored
Other countries that have experimented with
degrees of legalization have had positive results:
– Prohibition vs. Legalization – the U.S. Policy vs.
programs used in Europe
Comparison of U.S. to Amsterdam & Holland:
US: marijuana is outlawed
Amsterdam: marijuana is legal, sales are regulated,
selling to minors is prohibited
Holland has 100s of shops where pot is tolerated
US: 38% of adolescents have smoked pot
Holland: 20% of adolescents have smoked pot
Arguments AGAINST cont…
Drug legalization will decrease organized and
disorganized crime by putting the distributors out
of business
Drug use is a victimless crime which means it
should be legal
W.O.D. facilitates police corruption, by injecting
huge profits into the black market
W.O.D is hypocritical because only certain drugs
are targeted. Other drugs, such as alcohol,
caffeine and tobacco are legal, yet cause many
more problems than current illegal drugs
Tobacco – 390,000
Alcohol – 80,000
Second-hand Smoke from
Tobacco – 50,000
All Illegal Drugs Combined –
4,500; Marijuana – 0
Arguments AGAINST cont…
Legalizing drugs will help keep more dangerous
and addictive drugs from minors, for whom the
deleterious effects are greater
Drug legalization will enable users to be certain
that they are receiving the correct drug
The strict enforcement of drug laws has led to
overcrowding prisons and the early release of
violent offenders
Legalization would prevent any government
excuse to ban the industrial use of hemp which
can be made into about 50,000 products
In addition,
The War on Drugs funds Terrorism and helped
bring about 9/11
– In March 2002, in a statement before the Senate
Judiciary Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism,
and Government, Sen. Jon Kyl (R.-Ariz.) reported that
“opium production in Afghanistan [under the Taliban]
accounted for 72 percent of production worldwide”
and was used to “shelter Osama bin Laden and other
al-Qaeda terrorists”
– He similarly indicated that bin Laden “provided
protection to heroin-processing labs, was a part
owner in numerous labs, [and] part owner of one load
shipped to the U.S.”
Parallels between
Prohibition
– An increase in:
Substance-related deaths
Government spending to
enforce the law
Judicial caseloads
Prison population
Violent crime, including
murder
– The alcohol production and
distribution became
decentralized and
democratized
Organized crime boomed
as criminals jumped at the
chance to quench the
demand for liquor
However, most of the
production and distribution
was done on a smaller
scale by average citizens
War on Drugs
– Increases
N/A
$18 billion annually; total $40
billion (including State)
Largest prison pop. with 59.6%
drug based
Added 11,000 murders/yr
during 1980s
– Drug production and
distribution is decentralized and
democratized
No criminal syndicate,
however, there are large-scale
operations
Most are small-scale
entrepreneurs
In addition, there’s a
relationship between drug
prohibition and law
enforcement corruption
Murder in America
Homicides per 100,000 population
1900 - 1997 (FBI Uniform Crime Reports)
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1900
1915
1930
1945
1960
1975
1997
What Prohibition Teaches Us
Prohibition causes crime
– “the consensus of opinion among criminologists is
that "prohibition is shown to directly increase violent
crime, even in cases where it deters drug use. The
more resources given to the fight against drugs, the
greater the homicide rate"
Prohibition encourages waste
– There will always be a market for mind-altering
substances
– Profits from drugs sold in a similar manner as alcohol
can go towards treatment and education
Prohibition ignores the “functional drug user”
– The 40+ million that use drugs and still function in
society
What Prohibition Teaches Us cont…
No amount of legislation or social
engineering is going to prevent some
people from using substances others
disapprove of
– According to the National Survey on Drug Use
and Health, Americans still generally use illicit
drugs with the same frequency they have
since the drug war began, despite harsher
sentences, increased funding for law
enforcement, more prisons, expensive public
relations campaigns and frightening
trespasses on our civil liberties
We agree with the widely held
belief that
the War on Drugs
is the modern-day
Prohibition
and therefore should no longer be
funded
Sources Sources
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/cron/
www.addictiondoctor.com
http://www.druglibrary.org
http://www.drugwarfacts.org
http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/drugfact/index.html
http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/statistics/statistics.shtml
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-38.8/37187.html#rid-37237
http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/scheduling.html
www.theinternetparty.org/issues
www.lindesmith.org/global/terrorism
www.capmag.com/articlePrint.asp?ID=3435
www.haciendapub.com/monde.html
www.lp.org/issues/relegalize.html
www.faculty/ncwc.edu/toconner/pol/495lect01.htm
www.drugtext.org/library/articles/craig103.htm
Sources
http://serendipity.nofadz.com/wod.html
http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/alcohol/pa-157.html