The War On Drugs Essay

Submitted By Kenny2248
Words: 2366
Pages: 10

The War on Drugs

Preventing drug use has been a very, very long process. It is very important that everyone understands the danger of drugs and the violent war crimes that can develop from their usage. It is called the longest and deadliest war in United States history. It has been said that it started around the 1970’s when President Nixon announced it. The “War on Drugs” has costs billions of dollars and has also taken thousands of lives. About seventy-thousand people lost their lives in that war. About twenty-thousand people have disappeared. Also, about two-hundred and fifty thousand have been displaced. The War on Drugs has really done more damage to the American people than addiction itself. Preventing drugs is pretty much a federal policy. Some states spend a lot of money not to just prevent drug smuggling, but to prevent gun smuggling, money laundering, and illegal immigration. The United States spent about twenty-five billion dollars on the “War on Drugs” in 2012. In the last thirty years, the act of preventing drugs has only boosted supplies, reduced prices, and even sparked armed conflict among gangs in Mexico and in the United States. The cartels control at least ninety percent of the illicit drugs that enter the United States. With Mexico being on the other side of the boarder and also having the highest crime rate for drugs, the United States is automatically in the War on Drugs. Federal Agencies such as the Border Patrol, the DEA, the CIA, and the FBI, help keep the boarder safe and look out for illegal immigrants. The Border Patrol Agents go from going horseback to driving SUV’s to catch the Mexican cartel from smuggling drugs and weapons across the border, to the United States. Agents also have to be aware of the Mexican drug dealers that drop bundles of drugs out of their crop planes. The FBI investigates and tracks down Mexican cartel gangs that cause crime and kidnap men, women, and children. The agents also help catch illegal immigrants trying to cross over the boarder by hiking over rough terrain, swimming through fast moving rivers, and or by making their way through under-ground tunnels. The Drug Enforcement Agency has also tried to limit the drug trafficking problem coming from countries south of the United States. CIA agents believe that it is the low paying jobs and the living conditions that bring some of these small town farmers to big time drug dealers. Prisons around the United States mostly have criminals for drug-related crimes. The United States has the second highest incarceration rate in the world and it will soon become the highest. Millions of people have been arrested on drug charges since the start of the war on drugs resulting in huge costs both in terms of dollars and in human lives, drugs today are more available, more potent and cheaper than ever. The black race is the highest in crime rates for drug-related crimes. Due to misguided drug laws, the United States imprisons more people than in any other nation in the world. Since the start of the War on Drugs, practices have led to the convictions of millions of Americans. The cost to put a drug dealer in jail is about four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. For an arrest and a conviction is about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. The cost for a prison bed is about fifty thousand to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, depending on the jurisdiction. It costs about thirty thousand per year to house a prisoner. For treatment or education, it could cost around four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Due to surveys and statistics, filling prisons with drug users, addicts, and dealers has done nothing to help change the billion dollar business. Drug trafficking has been going on ever since World War two. This still happens near the United States boarder but however, most of the drug trafficking that happens is near the Mexican and United States boarder. It is well documented that the