Transcript Interdiction: reducing the flow of illegal drugs into the country

The War on Drugs
Officially began in 1970 under President
Nixon: “Public enemy #1 in the U.S. is drug
abuse” (Nixon 1971).
First budget: $100million; today $15.1billion
Interdiction:
reducing the flow of
illegal drugs into the country.
Eradication: reduce production of
illegal substances in other countries.
Drug Abuse – an intense desire to
use drugs to the exclusion of other
activities (8-10%)
Drug Addiction – physical dependence
on a drug (2-3%)
Recreational user– occassional usage
Source: U.S. National Institute of Health
According to the Associated Press
(AP) over the past 40 years . . .



$20 billion spent to fight drug gangs in their
home countries
$49 billion for law enforcement along the
borders
$33 billion in marketing “Just Say No”
campaigns to U.S. youths while usage in
teens remains the same as 1970, while
O.D.'s have “risen steadily” (CDC 2010).
According to the Associated Press
(AP) over the past 40 years . . .
$121 billion to arrest more than 37million
nonviolent drug offenders, 10 million of them
for marijuana possession

$450 billion to lock those people up in
federal prisons alone - ½ the federal prison
population

The Justice Department estimates the
consequences of drug abuse include:
“an overburdened justice system, a
strained health care system, lost
productivity,
and
environmental
destruction” costing the U.S. $215 billion
a year.
Why no change if rehab is
cheaper and better?

Easier for politicians to get elected by
being “tough” on drugs and crime

Treatment seems like “coddling” criminals

Ignorance on the facts behind the war.
The current drug “war” is actually
causing the crime, not the drugs
themselves. According to Father
Joseph Kane, a Roman Catholic
priest who for the past twenty years
has lived and served in a drug
infested neighbor, “It’s not the drug
that causes the crime, but the need to
obtain the drug” (Stossel, 2002).
War on Drugs 1
The War on Drugs Must End
Robert Kelber
Brooklyn High School
April 27, 2011
War on Drugs 12
Reference Page
Stossel, J. (2002). “A War on Drugs, A War on
Ourselves.” Retrieved from ABC News.com
Zonby, T. (2005). “Drugs are Dangerous.” retrieved
from USA Today.com