The War on Drugs

1. The War on Drugs “No Need For A Name” Paul Allen Karla Conzelman Postra Kuoy Jasmin Sanchez

2. The Failure of the US War on Drugs • More than 75% of the population believes that the US War on Drugs is a failure. • In the proceeding analysis, the usage of illicit substances is neither condoned nor condemned. • All drug use is harmful and potentially lethal. Knowing the consequences, each person should have the option of making informed choices.

3. Timeline of Legislation 1906 - Food and Drugs Act of 1906 This act did not create prohibitions - what it did do was ensure that products met standards of purity, and were honestly labeled. 1905 - 1917 Many states began to ban alcohol and other drugs. 1914 - The first national legislation, the Harrison Narcotics Control Act. Intended as a law to regulate the sale of certain narcotics (opium, heroin, cocaine). While claims were made that this law was not to be prohibitionary, the taxes relating to the sale of the regulated substances were ultimately raised to a level that made them prohibitionary in nature. The seeds for the modern drug war were sewn.

4. Timeline of Legislation 1917 - 18th amendment goes into effect, creating a nationwide prohibition of alcohol. • Initially alcohol consumption dropped, but in a few short years organized crime gangs filled the demand for alcohol. Violence and crime flourished, funded by the ill-gotten gains of the illegal alcohol black market. Alcohol use steadily rose to exceed pre-prohibition levels. 1933 - 21st amendment to the constitution was ratified, repealing the 18th amendment and ending national alcohol prohibition. The laws relating to other drugs however, remained in place. 1937 – A new tax introduced, targeting Marijuana, a commonly used legal drug.

5. Timeline of Legislation 1961 – The UN adopted the Single Convention Treaty on Narcotic Drugs, opening the way for more stringent enforcement. The CIA went into Vietnam and heroin began to flow into America from Asia. 1965 - Drug Abuse Control Amendments were passed, creating the Bureau of Drug Abuse Control.

6. Timeline of Legislation 1969 – President Nixon declares war on drugs and crime. 1970 - Modern "War On Drugs" is born as the "Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act". 1973 - Nixon reorganizes various federal drug law enforcement agencies creating the Drug Enforcement Agency, or DEA.

7. Timeline of Legislation 1986 - Nancy Reagan begins the "Just Say No" campaign. While there is an initial drop in drug use, drug use again rises rapidly within a few years. 1988 - The Office Of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP and position of the "Drug Czar) is formed. 1994,1997 - the RAND Corporation releases reports showing that drug treatment and education is 7 times more cost effective than criminal interdiction.

8. Current Status • At the federal level the Controlled Substances Act, and it's various amendments, is the law of the land. It outlines severe criminal penalties for making, selling, and/or using the substances it controls, such as marijuana, ecstasy, peyote, heroin and cocaine. • The act is enforced by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Although 8 states have made medical marijuana completely legal, the DEA claims federal jurisdiction, and has enforced the laws in these states, going so far as to arrest and imprison bedridden terminally ill patients for using doctor prescribed marijuana.

9. Current Status • In terms of civil liberties, the Supreme Court has generally ruled in favor of increasing police powers and decreasing citizen privacy when drug war issues are tried.

10. Costs to Society In terms of deaths per year. • Approximately 7,000 people die each year from drug overdose. • 80% of drug deaths (5,600) are due to impurities and other factors that would not be present in legal preparations. • Because needle sales are banned, shared needles have become the primary mode of AIDS transmission in the U.S. • approximately 3,500 new cases/year. • The turf wars over drug territory result in gang shootings in which innocents • 1,600 annually are killed.

11. Costs to Society In terms of deaths per year, continued • Because drug prohibition makes the price of drugs almost 100 times higher than they otherwise would be, addicts rob to support their habit, killing many of their victims in the process • about 750 each year. • Therefore, the death toll caused by the War on Drugs 5,600+3,500+1,600+750=11,450 • If drugs were legalized, the death toll of drugs would be • 20% of 7000=1400, approximately 8 times less. • Since an estimated one out of eight people in the U.S. use illegal drugs regularly, the whole population would have to use them in a legal setting for the death toll to be as high as it is under drug prohibition. • These estimates are consistent with the death toll per capita from drugs in Amsterdam, which does not prosecute users.

12. Average Annual Deaths, as per National Institute for Drug Abuse, 1974-1987

13. Cost to Society • The cost to put a single drug dealer in jail is about $450,000, composed of: • The cost for arrest and conviction is about $150,000. • The cost for an additional prison bed ranges $50,000 to $150,000, depending upon the jurisdiction. • It costs about $30,000 per year to house a prisoner. With an average sentence of 5 years, that adds up to another $150,000. • The same $450,000 can provide treatment for about 200 people. • In addition, putting a person in prison produces about fifteen dollars in related welfare costs, for every dollar spent on incarceration. Every dollar spent on treatment and education saves about five dollars in related welfare costs.

14. Prison Populations (As per the Federal Bureau of Prisons) NOTE: Under testimony, the FBOP estimates that approximately 50% of inmates in the “drug offenses” category are first time, non-violent offenders.

15. Comparison of Average Sentences (As per the Federal Bureau of Prisons) Sentence lengths shown in months

16. Mandatory Minimums • Federal mandatory minimum sentences are determined solely by the weight of the drugs. The prisoner must serve at least 85% of this sentence, and there is no parole available • In comparison, a violent offender will serve less than 54% of his sentence on average. • Sentences are mandatory – judges must impose them, regardless of the defendant's role in the offense, his culpability, likelihood of rehabilitation, or any other mitigating factors.

17. Mandatory Minimums • Opposed most notably by the American Bar Association, the U.S. Sentencing Commission and Human Rights Watch. • In 1978, the number of imprisoned parents was 21,000. By 1990, it had risen to 1,000,000. • Since mandatory minimums were enacted, the number of women inmates has tripled. The majority of these women are first-time, nonviolent, low-level offenders. • Over 80% of the female prisoners in the United States are mothers, and 70% of these are single parents.

18. Mandatory Minimums • Mandatory minimums are costly financially • The portion of tax dollars that goes to support federal prisoners grows faster than any other federal expenditure, including education, defense, the environment, transportation and social security. • Since the enactment of mandatory minimum sentencing for drug users, the Federal Bureau of Prisons budget increased by more than 1,350%, from $220 million in 1986 to about $3.19 billion in 1997. • It costs more to send a person to prison for four years than it does to send him to a private university for four years, including tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies. (Bureau of Prisons)

19. How much has the Drug War cost so far this year? cost of drug war clock (link to webpage)

20. The Case Against Drug Prohibition and the Drug War: Generally fall into one of four categories: • Anti-Prohibitionists • Drug Law Reformers • Treatment/Education/Harm Reductionists • Drug Regulationists

21. Anti-Prohibitionists • The main point of those in the anti-prohibition movement is that prohibition does not work; prohibition does not stop the making, selling, buying and using of recreational drugs. • A second point of the anti-prohibitionists is that America's current drug law prohibitions only result in creating a black market, where all moneys from recreational substance distribution go to drug dealers, drug lords, gangs and organized crime. • Anti-prohibitionists also claim that the black market caused by prohibition actually makes children, young teens especially, at greater risk for drug use.

22. Anti-Prohibitionists (According to the Drug Policy Forum) The rate of addiction in 1914 was about 1.3% of the population, and hard drugs - drugs like cocaine - were readily available on grocery shelves. In 1979, before the big "War on Drugs" crackdown, the addiction rate was still 1.3%. In 1998? Still about 1.3%. Is such a large budget justified?

23. Anti-Prohibitionists Augmenting the Black Market? (According to FBI statistics) • One third of robberies and burglaries is committed to obtain money for high-priced, black market drugs. • Up to 40% of murders in major cities and 20% of killings nationwide occur in the drug trade.

24. Drug Law Reformers • A common point of drug law reformers is that individuals should have the right to use whatever medication they wish; at the very least in concert with their doctor. • A further concept is that responsible recreational use of certain substances can be an important part of a healthy lifestyle. They point out that alcohol is among the most dangerous of recreational drugs, yet is well tolerated as a legal and regulated drug.

25. Treatment/Education/Harm Reductionists • The treatment and education camp's view is that problems of drug use and abuse should be addressed through harm reduction and treatment - not though criminality, in much the same way that alcohol problems are dealt with. • Studies, such as one produced by RAND Corp., indicate that treatment is 7 times more effective than criminal incarceration.

26. Treatment/Education/Harm Reductionists • Harm reductionists also claim that criminalized drug black markets create an additional threat to society. • People with substance problems are afraid to come forward due to the fear of criminal sanctions. • There are no environmental controls, no laboratory standards or appropriate equipment. • No purity or strength conformity standards. • Production in clandestine operations, and places the environment in potentially great harm. • These operations yield upwards of five pounds of toxic byproduct for every pound of drug produced – hazardous waste that’s not being properly disposed of. • Waste products are routinely spilled onto the ground, polluting soil and water systems or left behind

27. Drug Regulationists The drug regulation groups like to show that needless tax dollars are lost to the illegal drug black market, and if recreational drugs were regulated like alcohol, the resultant tax revenues could be used to fund effective treatment programs.

28. Federal Financial Analysis of Legalization of Drugs • This Federal financial analysis of legalization comes from Theodore R. Vallance, Former chief of the Planning Branch of the National Institutes of Mental Health. His main professional effort for many years was directed at just this sort of analysis. The analysis was published in the 7-10-95 issue of National Review.

30. Critical Issues • Civil Rights: Does a person have the right to use a recreational substance? Does a person have a right to access whatever medication they and their doctor agree upon for treatment of any condition? Should a person be imprisoned responsible, recreational substance usage? • Criminal Issues: Do recreational substances cause crimes (other than use?) Is drug war related crime a consequence of the drug laws as opposed to the drugs themselves? Does prohibition result in increased profits for drug dealers, drug lords, and terrorists? • Effectiveness Of Prohibition: Do prohibition laws work? Is the manufacture, trade, and use of recreational substances halted? Is prohibition cost effective? • Funding for Treatment: Is treatment more cost effective than prohibition in curbing recreational substance abuse? Are adequate funds available for treatment by those in need? • Education: Is recreational substance related education being addressed in an effective way? Is the "abstinence only" approach productive in reducing drug abuse? • Law Enforcement: Have drug enforcement tactics resulted in police abuses? Has corruption in police departments increased as a result of the drug war? Have innocent citizens been harmed or killed by police in pursuit of the drug war? • Taxes and Spending: Are tax dollars being spent most effectively with current government policies? If regulated like alcohol, instead of prohibited, would the sale of recreational substances generate tax revenues that could be used for treatment and education?

31. Critical Issues From a Business Perspective • Relate the US Government and the War on Drugs to a business and it’s policies. • Good Cash Management to minimize income. However, this relates to the maximization of tax savings, so the government doesn’t need to utilize this strategy. • Businesses with reoccurring NOI losses would quickly dismantle, restructure, or come under investigation for illegal practices.