How the American war on drugs has negative effects on the US economy and its society.

How the American war on drugs has negative effects on the US economy and its society.

After declaring war on drugs 46 years ago, the US has caused more harm than good for its economy and for its people.

 THE BEGINNING OF THE “WAR”.

During the 1970s, President Richard Nixon declared war on drugs to eradicate illicit drug use in the US by creating the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, and added a new agency at the FBI, the DEA. "If we cannot destroy the drug menace in America, then it will surely in time destroy us and I am not prepared to accept this alternative", declared the former US president to point out how drug use had become public enemy number one. American and international hysteria about the devastating effects of drugs started at the beginning of the 1960s when drugs started to flow massively from the Middle East and South America to Western countries, and the use of drugs became more public and prevalent during this decade due in part to the counterculture movement. For this reason, many Americans felt that drug use had become a serious threat to the country and its moral standing.

The "war on drugs" seeks to eradicate the possession, use, trade, and production of  drugs by limiting the use exclusively to medical and scientific purposes. This policy also seeks to stop drug trafficking through international cooperation.

Under the Reagan administration, policies were harsher and the war on drugs took a different turn. Indeed, what followed was an increase of police and military efforts all around the world. American leaders, however, failed to meet any of their goals. Indeed, drug use and drug trafficking proliferated as well as drug-related violence and nowadays it contributed to a mass incarceration issue in the US. Nevertheless, this policy has made drugs less accessible and reduced potential levels of drug abuse.

HOW MUCH DOES THE WAR ON DRUGS COST?

The American government has spent more than 1 trillion dollars since 1971, including both domestic and overseas aspects of this "war". It’s on average more than 51 billion dollars a year. Indeed, since 1971 the number of prisoners in the US has been multiplied by 8 and doing so hugely increased States' expenditure and nowadays it is easy to find private prisons all over the US because of the huge “demand”. In the US “correctional work” in prison is widely common and someone may say that mass incarceration is an easy way for some companies that own private prisons to have a cheap workforce.

Currently 54% of State prisoners in the US are arrested on drug-related charges. Because of mass incarceration each U.S. resident pays about $260 per year on corrections, up from $77 per person in 1971.

As a consequence of these data, it can be said that in the domestic field the main US policy to fight drug addiction and drug trafficking is mass incarceration. This policy lead sometimes to bigger problems, as happened in California at the end of the 2000s when the prison population of the “Golden State” reached an unbearable peak and its former Governor decided to decriminalize drug-related offences. 

OVERSEAS COSTS

One of the main roles of the American War on Drugs is played by the Drug Enforcement Administration, also known as DEA. This federal agency has 91 foreign office all around the world (even though officially, the DEA has no power outside the US borders), and it has spent more than $50 billion since the agency was created by Nixon. The DEA has more than 12.000 employees and the average cost per arrest made is $97.32. The strategies used by the agency are destroying crops and fighting drug cartels. The DEA knew a lot of success by arresting famous drug traffickers and by stopping violent cartels, but drug trafficking is so lucrative that when you stop a cartel or a drug dealer, right after another cartel takes the place. It’s an endless war.

SOLUTIONS?

Talking about changing the approach of the government on drug abuse and illegal trafficking might put a few noses out, but as we can see the current approach isn’t working and it’s often counterproductive. What would have happened if the one trillion dollars spent by the US over the last 4 decades was used more on rehabilitation and addiction treatment?

Andrea PURPURA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Enforcement_Administration#Budget

https://www.dea.gov/about/foreignoffices.shtml

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/social-mobility-memos/2015/11/25/drug-offenders-in-american-prisons-the-critical-distinction-between-stock-and-flow/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-high-price-of-americas-incarceration-80-billion/

https://www.vox.com/cards/war-on-drugs-marijuana-cocaine-heroin-meth/drug-war-rehabilitation