War on Drugs - Wikipedia 17.08.17, 1140 War on Drugs From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia "The War on Drugs" is an American term[6][7] usually applied to the United States government's campaign of prohibition of drugs, military aid, and military intervention, with the stated aim being to reduce the illegal drug trade.[8][9] This initiative includes a set of drug policies that are intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of psychoactive drugs that the participating governments and the UN have made illegal. The term was popularized by the media shortly after a press conference given on June 18, 1971, by United States President Richard Nixon—the day after publication of a special message from President Nixon to As part of the War on Drugs, the US the Congress on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control—during which spends approximately $500 million per year on aid for Colombia, largely used to he declared drug abuse "public enemy number one". That message to combat guerrilla groups such as FARC the Congress included text about devoting more federal resources to that are involved in the illegal drug the "prevention of new addicts, and the rehabilitation of those who trade.[1][2][3][4][5] are addicted", but that part did not receive the same public attention as the term "war on drugs".[10][11][12] However, two years prior to this, Nixon had formally declared a "war on drugs" that would be directed toward eradication, interdiction, and incarceration.[13] Today, the Drug Policy Alliance, which advocates for an end to the War on Drugs, estimates that the United States spends $51 billion annually on these initiatives.[14] On May 13, 2009, Gil Kerlikowske—the Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) —signaled that the Obama administration did not plan to significantly alter drug enforcement policy, but also that the administration would not use the term "War on Drugs", because Kerlikowske considers the term to be "counter-productive".[15] ONDCP's view is that "drug addiction is a disease that can be successfully prevented and treated... making drugs more available will make it harder to keep our communities healthy and safe".[16] One of the alternatives that Kerlikowske has showcased is the drug policy of Sweden, which seeks to balance public health concerns with opposition to drug legalization. The prevalence rates for cocaine use in Sweden are barely one-fifth of those in Spain, the biggest consumer of the drug.[17] In June 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy released a critical report on the War on Drugs, declaring: "The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world. Fifty years after the initiation of the UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and years after President Nixon launched the US government's war on drugs, fundamental reforms in national and global drug control policies are urgently needed."[18] The report was criticized by organizations that oppose a general legalization of drugs.[16] Contents 1 History 1.1 20th century 1.2 21st century 2 United States domestic policy 2.1 Arrests and incarceration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs Seite 1 von 28 War on Drugs - Wikipedia 17.08.17, 1140 2.2 Sentencing disparities 3 Common drugs 4 United States foreign policy and covert military activities 4.1 War in Vietnam 4.2 Operation Intercept 4.3 Operation Just Cause 4.4 Plan Colombia 4.5 Mérida Initiative 4.6 Aerial herbicide application 4.7 U.S. operations in Honduras 5 Public support and opposition in the United States 6 Socio-economic effects 6.1 Creation of a permanent underclass 6.2 Costs to taxpayers 6.3 Impact on growers 7 Allegations of U.S. government involvement in drug trafficking 7.1 CIA and Contra cocaine trafficking 7.2 Heroin trafficking operations involving the CIA, U.S. Navy and Sicilian Mafia 8 Efficacy of the United States war on drugs 9 Legality 10 Alternatives 11 See also 12 References 13 Further reading 13.1 Government and NGO reports 14 External links 14.1 Video History 20th century The first U.S. law that restricted the distribution and use of certain drugs was the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914. The first local laws came as early as 1860.[19] In 1919, the United States passed the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol, with exceptions for religious and medical use. In 1920, the United States passed the National Prohibition Act (Volstead Act), enacted to carry out the provisions in law of the 18th Amendment. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics was established in the United States Department of the Treasury by an act of June 14, 1930 (46 Stat. 585).[20] In 1933, the federal prohibition for alcohol was repealed by passage of the 21st Amendment. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt publicly supported the adoption of the Uniform State Narcotic Drug Act. The New York Times used the headline "Roosevelt Asks Narcotic War Aid".[21][22] In 1937, the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed. Several scholars have claimed that the goal was to destroy the hemp industry,[23][24][25] largely as an effort of businessmen Andrew Mellon, Randolph Hearst, and the Du Pont family.[23][25] These scholars argue that with the invention of the decorticator, hemp became a very cheap substitute for the paper pulp that was used in the newspaper industry.[23][26] These https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs Seite 2 von 28 War on Drugs - Wikipedia 17.08.17, 1140 scholars believe that Hearst felt that this was a threat to his extensive timber holdings. Mellon, United States Secretary of the Treasury and the wealthiest man in America, had invested heavily in the DuPont's new synthetic fiber, nylon, and considered its success to depend on its replacement of the traditional resource, hemp.[23][27][28][29][30][31][32][33] However, there were circumstances that contradict these claims. One reason for doubts about those claims is that the new decorticators did not perform fully satisfactorily in commercial production.[34] To produce fiber from hemp was a labor-intensive process if you include harvest, transport and processing. Technological developments decreased the labor with hemp but not sufficient to eliminate this disadvantage.[35][36] On October 27, 1970, Congress passes the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, which, among other things, categorizes controlled substances based on their medicinal use and potential for addiction.[37] In 1971, two congressmen released an explosive report on the growing heroin epidemic among U.S. servicemen in Vietnam; ten to fifteen percent of the servicemen were addicted to heroin, and President Nixon declared drug abuse to be "public enemy number one".[37][38] Although Nixon declared "drug abuse" to be public enemy number one in 1971,[39] the policies that his administration implemented as part of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 were a continuation of drug prohibition policies in the U.S., which started in 1914.[37][40] "The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did." - John Ehrlichman, to Dan Baum[41][42][43] for Harper's Magazine[44] in 1994, about President Richard Nixon's war on drugs, declared in 1971.[45][46] In 1973, the Drug Enforcement Administration was created to replace the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.[37] The Nixon Administration also repealed the federal 2–10-year mandatory minimum sentences for possession of marijuana and started federal demand reduction programs and drug-treatment programs. Robert DuPont, the "Drug czar" in the Nixon Administration, stated it would be more accurate to say that Nixon ended, rather than launched, the "war on drugs". DuPont also argued that it was the proponents of drug legalization that popularized the term "war on drugs".[16] In 1982, Vice President George H. W. Bush and his aides began pushing for the involvement of the CIA and U.S. military in drug interdiction efforts.[47] The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) was originally established by the National Narcotics Leadership Act of 1988,[48][49] which mandated a national anti-drug media campaign for youth, which would later become the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign.[50] The director of ONDCP is commonly known as the Drug czar,[37] and it was first implemented in 1989 under President George H. W. Bush,[51] and raised to cabinet-level status by Bill Clinton in 1993.[52] These activities were subsequently https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs Seite 3 von 28 War on Drugs - Wikipedia 17.08.17, 1140 funded by the Treasury and General Government Appropriations Act of 1998.[53][54] The Drug-Free Media Campaign Act of 1998 codified the campaign at 21 U.S.C. § 1708 (https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/ 21/1708).[55] 21st century The Global Commission on Drug Policy released a report on June 2, 2011 alleging that "The War On Drugs Has Failed." The commissioned was made up of 22 self-appointed members including a number of prominent international politicians and writers.