National Drug Policy Analysis
The United States has a very unique system in the sense that the federal government has its own policies on drugs which may and in many cases does differ from the policies of individual states. An example of this can be seen in the various states that have legalized some form of cannabis use either for medical or recreational purposes. The federal government still has marijuana classified as a schedule one narcotic and prohibits its cultivation and use which contradicts these states laws that have legalized it.
History of Drug Use and Policy Legislation in The United States
Substance use has been a part of the human experience for thousands of years. It wasn't until within the last 100 years that it really became stigmatized and substance users were treated as criminal lowlife citizens. For example, the consumption of alcohol can be traced back to ancient times spanning over 5000 years and is today as it was backed in a shared cultural tradition. As society spread to the new world and civil and religious influences became more prevalent views towards alcohol consumption changed. In the late 18th century Dr Benjamin rush published his pamphlet in which he attributed certain ailments such as moral degeneration, crime, and poverty to the use of strong high proof alcoholic drinks. This pamphlet written in 1785 set the foundation for prohibitionist movements such as the Union Temperance Society, which later became the American Temperance Union which ultimately led to the creation and ratification of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution on January 16, 1920 (Abadinsky 2012). Speculation could be made that the prohibition act was the first action taken by the United States government on what will later become known as the War on Drugs and the criminalization of substance use disorder starting in the late 1960s and still continuing today (Coyne et al., 2017).
Law Enforcement and Drug Enforcement Agencies Role in Drug Policy Enforcement
Since the adoption of prohibition and eventual declaration of war on drugs law enforcement has carried the responsibility of enforcing the rule and penalizing those who use, possess, or distribute any substance considered to be illicit, including natural substances like marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms and cacti. This created a much tougher workload for law enforcement and led to the creation of new agencies like the Drug Enforcement Administration or DEA. Today the DEA partners with local law enforcement and Border Patrol agents as well as international governments to enforce federal drug laws and combat illegal smuggling and trafficking of narcotics at border points and ports of entry into the United States (Abadinsky, 2012).
Different Drug Policies in The United States and Their Effects on Society
Drug policy in the United States has long failed at slowing and stopping the flow of illegal narcotics from entering this country. These policies instead have overwhelmingly affected the most impoverished communities and populations and have led to the United States leading the world in imprisoning its own citizens. The War on Drugs and the enhanced sentencing for drugs like crack cocaine possession negatively impacted minority communities and those stricken the most with poverty. Even still today black Americans are four times more likely to be arrested for drug possession than white Americans are. That does not mean that white citizens aren't doing, selling, and possessing drugs it only shows which populations are mainly being targeted the most for suspicious drug activity (Abadinsky, 2012). This inadvertently led to the mass incarceration of multiple generations worth of black and brown people solely for drug offenses. The racial issues with policing that we see today are a direct result and consequences of the war on drugs. Minority communities are just as much stricken with poverty and drugs today as they were in the 1980s and 90s and racial targeting by police is still ongoing (Abadinsky, 2012). The difference between 30 years ago and today is that today, there is a camera in every hand and on every street corner where people can take recordings of police interactions and upload them to the web to be viewed worldwide whereas back then if you didn't see or hear about it on the news then you would never have heard about it.
Conclusion
In conclusion, times are changing and with recent technological advances available readily to the public more and more exposure is outlining the many failures of past policies and the need for changes and reform. Changes in policing, criminal prosecution, sentencing, and rehabilitating drug users. Now instead of a hammer down approach many law enforcement agencies and justice systems are partnering with local treatment centers and government agencies to adopt their own version of rehabilitation programs using models that are evidence based and proven to be effective in anthem landing real change and long-lasting recovery.
References
Abadinsky, H. (2012). Drug Use and Abuse: A Comprehensive Introduction (8th ed.). https://bibliu.com/app/#/view/books/9781285951355pdf2htmlex/index.html#
Coyne, C. J., & Hall, A. R. (2017, April). Four Decades and Counting: The Continued Failure of the War on Drugs. Policy Analysis, (811),. https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/four-decades-counting-continued-failure-war-drugs
