Ever since President Richard Nixon declared war on drugs in 1971, we've heard much talk about America's drug-prevention initiatives. Each year, billions of dollars are spent on keeping illegal substances out -- and reducing drug use nationwide. However, some argue the battle is ineffective or perhaps even counter-productive. Is this effort worth continuing, or is it time to search for alternatives?
The bulk of federal efforts to control illegal drugs is comprised of costly – and largely unsuccessful – programs to reduce the availability of drugs by attempting to halt their production abroad, interdict them at the border, and incarcerate as many (mostly nonviolent) drug law violators as possible. And yet, despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars and incarcerating millions of Americans, experts acknowledge that illicit drugs remain cheap, potent and widely available in every community. Meanwhile, the harms associated with drug abuse - addiction, overdose, the spread of AIDS/HIV, hepatitis C, and other infectious diseases - continue to mount.
More than 54 percent of high school seniors have tried an illicit drug, and students report that marijuana is easier to get than beer. Disturbingly, the proportion of 12th graders reporting that cocaine is “fairly” or “very” easy to get has risen from 33 percent in 1975 to 50 percent today. The percentage of 12th graders reporting that heroin is “fairly” or “very” easy to obtain has risen from 20 percent to 35 percent.
Drug-induced deaths increased more than five-fold from 1980 to 1999, and then grew by nearly half again in the early years of this century, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Drug-induced deaths accounted for 33,541 reported deaths in the United States in 2005 (the latest year data is available), making it the second most common cause of unintentional death after motor vehicle crashes. More than 30,000 Americans contract HIV/AIDS or hepatitis C each year due to injection drug use, either directly (sharing contaminated syringes) or indirectly (having sex with someone who used a contaminated syringe or being born to a mother who used a contaminated syringe).
It’s no wonder that a Pew Research Center Poll found that 74% of Americans believe the war on drugs has failed. A majority believe drug abuse should be treated as a disease, compared to only 35% who support treating drug use as a crime.
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