Amid Trump threats, what has the US’s ‘war on drugs’ achieved in 50 years?

More than 50 years ago, successful the summertime of 1971, US President Richard Nixon declared cause maltreatment “public force fig one” and announced what would soon beryllium known arsenic the country’s “war connected drugs”.

The argumentation promised to cleanse streets crossed the United States of narcotics, dismantle trafficking networks and present a safer situation for Americans.

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Instead, decades of punitive policing and militarised crackdowns near the US with grounds overdose deaths, 1 of the world’s highest incarceration rates, and much than $1 trillion spent with small measurable interaction connected cause availability oregon demand, according to estimates by the Center for American Progress.

In the US, the warfare connected drugs helped reshape policing and transgression justice, disproportionately sweeping Black communities into prisons. Abroad, it fuelled a parallel struggle crossed Latin America, wherever US-backed operations deepened cycles of corruption and organised crime.

Today, overdose deaths driven by fentanyl person reached historical highs and galore states person moved to legalise cannabis.

Now, arsenic the Donald Trump medication appears poised for subject enactment against Venezuela implicit accusations that the South American nation’s authorities is driving narcotics trafficking into the US – claims that Washington has not backed with grounds – here’s a look astatine however the warfare connected drugs started, and its effects successful the US and regionally.

How did it statesman and wherever does it basal now?

Nixon launched the warfare connected drugs astatine a turbulent governmental infinitesimal successful the US. The precocious 1960s had brought rising heroin usage among soldiers returning from Vietnam, increasing cause usage among youth, and years of protestation and increasing antiwar sentiment.

Nixon’s medication laid the groundwork for a punitive system, including caller national agencies, tougher penalties and a rhetoric that framed cause usage arsenic a menace to nationalist stability.

The governmental logic down the determination was aboriginal revealed by John Ehrlichman, a Nixon aide, who successful 2016 told a newsman that the medication saw 2 main “enemies” – the antiwar near and Black Americans. Since the authorities could not criminalise dissent oregon race, it alternatively associated “hippies” with marijuana and Black communities with heroin, and past heavy criminalised both.

The aim, helium said, was to disrupt and discredit those communities by raiding homes, arresting leaders and vilifying them connected the news.

“Did we cognize we were lying astir the drugs? Of people we did,” helium said.

The run intensified dramatically successful the 1980s nether President Ronald Reagan. The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 toughened sentences for marijuana possession.

The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 introduced minimum sentences, but besides enactment successful spot penalties that yet led to large radical disparities successful imprisonment rates. The instrumentality punished those recovered with 5gm of ace cocaine with a minimum of 5 years down bars. Those recovered with 500gm of the overmuch much costly powdered cocaine besides faced the aforesaid minimum sentence.

After the transition of the law, the complaint of imprisonment of Black Americans jumped fivefold – from 50 successful each 100,000, to 250 successful 100,000.

Through the 1990s and 2000s, successive administrations upheld these approaches. Bill Clinton’s 1994 transgression measure expanded national backing for prisons, led to much assertive policing and introduced a arguable “three-strikes” approach: a mandatory beingness condemnation for a 3rd convulsive felony conviction.

Not overmuch changed nether the Bush and Obama administrations.

It was not until the 2010s that the speech astir cause usage started to change, particularly arsenic cannabis legalisation expanded, and the opioid situation – driven by medicine painkillers – showed that punishment couldn’t curb addiction.

Now, Trump, portion maintaining galore of the home policies that were introduced implicit the past half-century, has besides turned his attraction to America’s extended neighbourhood. In caller weeks, Trump authorised US subject strikes connected dozens of boats successful the Caribbean adjacent Venezuelan waters, framing the escalation arsenic a renewed crackdown connected “narco-trafficking”, adjacent arsenic critics accidental the determination is simply a pretext to enforce authorities alteration and oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The US has not presented immoderate nationalist grounds truthful acold to backmost its claims that the boats its subject has bombed were carrying narcotics oregon that they were headed to its territory.

Mass imprisonment and arrests

From the mid-1970s onwards, cause criminalisation became a large operator of wide imprisonment successful the US.

At its peak, constabulary made 1.6 cardinal cause arrests per year, chiefly for possession. These arrests helped thrust the US situation colonisation from astir 300,000 successful the aboriginal 1970s to much than 2 cardinal 4 decades later, according to national data.

Black communities were deed hardest. Despite cause usage being prevalent among assorted radical groups, Black Americans person agelong been a batch much apt to beryllium arrested. According to The Sentencing Project, Black radical relationship for much than 1 successful 4 cause arrests successful the US, though they represent little than 15 percent of the nationalist population.

As of 2010, they were 3.7 times much apt than achromatic radical to beryllium arrested for marijuana possession.

According to probe from Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act and the sentencing disparity it introduced betwixt those punished for possession of ace and pulverization cocaine played a large relation successful this radical imbalance successful punishment rates.

Since ace was cheaper and much accessible successful poorer, predominantly Black neighbourhoods, galore much Black users were jailed than wealthier, achromatic users of pulverization cocaine.

Meanwhile, 1 of the larger arguments down focusing connected drugs – that this would besides bring down wide transgression rates – fell flat. Homicide rates successful the US really roseate aft the transition of Reagan’s 1984 transgression law, and continued to spell up until 1991.

At the aforesaid time, the US continued to neglect successful treating addiction arsenic a nationalist wellness issue. As enforcement ramped up, concern successful attraction and intelligence healthcare fell behind. Instead of reducing use, the situation helped thrust radical into different forms of consumption.

That accent connected penalising possession arsenic the mode to curb narcotics-related crimes hasn’t changed. In 2020, constabulary made much than 1.1 cardinal drug-related arrests, mostly for possession. The Prison Policy Initiative estimates that astir 360,000 radical are presently imprisoned connected cause charges nationwide, with hundreds of thousands much connected probation oregon parole for drug-related offences.

It hasn’t helped. Today, the US faces its deadliest cause situation ever, with much than 100,000 overdose deaths each year, mostly driven by synthetic opioids similar fentanyl, according to the National Institute connected Drug Abuse. Overdose is present the starring origin of decease for Americans aged 18–44.

How the ‘war connected drugs’ spilled into Latin America

The warfare connected drugs did not enactment constricted to the US and its borders. In the 1980s, Washington funded and trained militaries and constabulary forces crossed Latin America to combat cause trafficking astatine its source.

In Colombia, the US invested astatine slightest $10bn from 2000 nether what was known arsenic Plan Colombia, according to the Latin America Working Group, overmuch of it directed to information forces and the fumigation of coca crops.

According to Colombian quality rights organisations and the country’s Truth Commission, portion the authorities succeeded successful weakening immoderate equipped groups, coca cultivation yet returned to grounds levels, but civilians paid a precocious price. Between 1985 and 2018, an estimated 450,000 radical were killed successful the conflict.

In Mexico, a authorities violative launched successful 2006, supported by US quality and equipment, caused a question of cartel fragmentation and turf wars. Since then, much than 460,000 radical person been killed, according to the Council connected Foreign Relations, and tens of thousands much person disappeared.

Cartels diversified into extortion, substance theft and quality smuggling, portion corruption dispersed among constabulary forces arsenic good arsenic section governments.

These crackdowns shifted trafficking routes elsewhere, chiefly done the Central American nations of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, according to the United Nations Office connected Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Today, the US continues to transportation retired subject operations targeting alleged traffickers. More than 83 radical person been killed successful the 21 known subject strikes the US has conducted connected alleged cause smuggling vessels since September 2 successful the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.