Current officila drug policy confused - Essay Example

RUNNING HEAD: CURRENT OFFICIAL DRUG POLICY CONFUSED How the current official US drug Policy is confused, hypocritical and ultimately plays into thehand of organized crime University: Corresponding author: Contact details: The current US drug policy has come along way from the early 1920s when US first set up the US alcohol prohibition. From there on the US was an active supporter of the international initiatives to on the regulation of drugs. These initiatives were broadly to eliminate the circulation, production and use of some classified drug substances as well as trade in the same. However, alcohol prohibition has not had many changes since 1933. President Nixon was the initiator of the current 'war on drugs', which gave the law enforcement powers to the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs in 1970 and later to the formation of the Drug Enforcement Agency. Later the Office of the National Drug Control Policy was set up by President Reagan and its powers heightened by President Clinton. The cost of the drug abuse and control effort has been running in hundreds of millions of dollars. (Blumenson & Eva 2002, p.34). There existed very high stakes efforts, at least going by the senior US administration decree that drugs were outlawed in the US. But as fate and private revelation would put it, some government official were also secretly participating in the vice by either funding, trafficking or facilitating its production. Earlier evidence pointed to the Iran links. The money from these was allegedly being used to fund the US foreign policy interest in some specific countries such as in Afghanistan. Some states like the California are on record for passing bills to allow for the use of cannabis as natural medicine, a move that put the law and medicine at logger heads. (Hitz 1998, p.65) In the US, even possessing a pharmaceutical drug for use for non- medical purposes is considered a felony. Today cannabis is number four on the list of the most causes of apprehension in US. But further interesting statistics show that most of these arrests are racially biased. More black and Hispanics were targeted, yet it is estimated that equal numbers and potential offenders. (Blumenson & Eva 2002, p.21) Outside the US territory, there have been 'proactive' steps towards the war on drugs with the notable invasion of Panama two decades ago, whereby its head of states was accused of being as the ring leader of the vice. Curiously still, when two groups in Columbia were positively identified to be participating in drugs, the US is reported to have sided with one and financed it to attack the other militarily. And while these two groups fought, the paramilitaries seemed to be busy engaging in the illicit vice. Sometimes back in 1986, there were strong sentiments of the Central Intelligence Agency drug related involvement to the extent that money from the trade was use to arm the agency. Worst news was still to come in 1988, when a senate committee reported that some member were involved in the drug menace to the extent of either financing or accepting help from the dealers themselves. Again once some traffickers were jailed, instead of the frozen funds being used to fund humanitarian effort; there was leaked evidence that these would be used to fund other dealers. (Cockburn & Jeffrey 1998, p.56) Gary Webb (1996) gave further indication of how drugs were trafficked to L. Angeles for purchase of weapons amidst strong denials by some quotas. The Wall street Journal ( January 1997) also hinted that Bill Clinton was actively trying to conceal the vice knowingly, and that he was known and in contact with one of the chief architects Barry Seal who operated an airstrip. As fate would have it, the same Barry Seal somehow finds himself a job at the CIA! And having been frustrated by senior administrator above him, A CIA Gen. Fredrick Hitz produced documentary evidence that was to attest to the fact surrounding obstructed justice, abetting of drugs crimes and utter knowledge of the successive developments by the US governments. This report was later corroborated. (Cockburn & Jeffrey 1998, p.56). When the US went to war in the Afghan mountainous country to topple the government, many people would not have been aware that the US was earlier part of the problem. They were the makers of the hardcore radical fighters, whom they supported to deal in drugs in the 70's and 80's to enable them fight their arch rival the then USSR. And typical to the adage of the hunter becoming the hunted, the Afghan State found itself on the wrong pages of the US drug policy laws when after the Mullah Omar government was toppled, they were now ordered to burn out all the poppies that they were growing in their field to sustain themselves socially. Again the CIA had their fingers in the funds to buy arms to be used by the Special Forces. (Hitz 1998, p.78) Apart from the confusion in the legal policy and implementation, there is also the hypocritical sense of the whole US drugs policy. Paul Hager, a famous philosopher is yet to see the point of having a constitution that purports to tackle drugs related crime only for it to be inept depending on who and under what circumstances. He goes further to take exception with the manner in which the related constitutional amendments are carried out piece meal and selectively, with his loudest complain being why the Federal is left out at the most contentious amendments. Then there is the substantive due process that is supposed to permit doctors to use marijuana on medicinal grounds. And although this is a constitutional right, there have been several ruling by judges to insinuate that they are ignorant of this law. (The National Security Archive 2006) The evidence on the failed US drug policy has been pouring in their volumes from all quotas of either affected or partners who participated in the war on drugs internationally. Richard Davenport (2001) decried the sense of only apprehending a smaller fraction of consignment, when clearly the baron were still breaking even going by the street values and their continued motivation to traffic. When Dr. V's Private Hell, publicly advocated for cannabis, these was a constitutional law in place, only chose to go silent. Only one rare straight talker, Alberto Fujimori of Peru, had the moral authority to declare the US drug policy a lame duck whose war effort were indirectly proportional to the results. (Rolling Stine Magazine 2007, p.12) More sad statistics have been trickling in to the effect that the more and more adolescent have been involved in drugs related cases from possession, trafficking, consumption and even sales. The recent figures show that nearly 0.8 millions are involved with a standard deviation of 0.1 million annually ever since 1975. However, nearly $7 billion is spent annually by the US on the crusade from arrests, rehabilitation to prosecution and jails. Perhaps when confusions like the government classification of marijuana as Schedule 1 which is opposes nature medicine scientific belief are sorted, there will be some saving and light at the end of the tunnel. Redlich Warren (2005), was quoted,"It is true that the approach suggested in this paper would limit the police power. Constitutional protection of individual rights exists for that very purpose. We face coercive government action, carried out in a corrupt and racist manner, with military and paramilitary assaults on our homes, leading to mass incarceration and innocent deaths. We can never forget the tyranny of a government unrestrained by an independent judiciary. Our courts must end the War on Drugs." (Redlich 2005,p.34) While the war on drugs has been going tough on some citizens, the have been slowly moving toward alcohol consumption at an alarming rate. Some citizens are said to be consuming a combination of both. Industrial volume production has not helped in the calls for the reduction of alcohols in the US and the current state could be rightly describes as a crisis. The effect of alcohol can be assessed from either economic blow to social ramifications. Yet the alcoholic drug addiction has not discriminated racial, culturally and gender wise. However substantial evidence shows that there are worst statistics from the age of 28 years, after college. At this age many people have been living in denial of early addiction syndrome and have been justifying that they are merely have a recreational sip. The effect of the policing therefore has been a cost of $ 20 Billion a year. (The United Methodist Church 2004) The most commonly associated crime with alcohol has been gender violence, sexual offences, traffic offences as well as work absconding. The furthest the law of US goes is on the prohibition of minors and the level of alcohol for drivers. Yet the medical consequences of alcohol are wide and include loss of vital organs and death. Not to under look the social factor of family life relations lost opportunities, lost family loved ones. (Podesta & Farah 1993, p.67) The Tobacco debate is one that will always be mention in the same theme of the legal drugs and its effects on the societal fabrics. From its biological damages to man to its environmental effect to secondary smokers, use of tobacco has surely taken its toll on humanity. The furthest the policy has gone is to create no smoking zones as well as prohibit under ages from smoking. Additionally there have been bans and regulations of how the advertising should be handled to help cut down on new smoker campaign. This also recommends that all cigarettes must have a health warning sign on them. (The National Security Archives 2006). The current drugs problems can be traced back to the 1960s. It is during this time that several classification and modes have come to use. The Marijuana which is often referred to as the gateway to other drug usage and addiction has been confessed as being equally the easiest to lay hands on. The next category of drugs has been the sedatives. Though they tend to be used on prescription, addictions have been on the rise by abusers. Stimulants from the mild category to are yet the easiest to get an addiction. If the primary health and wellness programs are in place then they are easy to avoid. It has also been established that a single use of cocaine can easily lead to addiction. Then there are the hallucinogens which many use to surmount many consciousness issues. Finally, the narcotics who original medicinal value is for pain relief has been turned out to be one of the most abuses drug especially by the sport fraternity. (Bowe 2004, p.45) REFERENCES Austin J, McVey AD. (1989). The 1989 NCCD prison population forecast: the impact of the war on drugs ; San Francisco: National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 1989 Blumenson, E., Eva S. N., (May 16, 2002). Drug Policy Forum of Massachusetts : How to construct an underclass, or how the War on Drugs became a war on education. Electronic source available at http://dpfm.org/pdf/war_on_drugs_education.pdf . Retrieved on January 11, 2008 Bowe, R. ( 2004). The drug war on the Amazon; The Environmental Magazine, Nov- Dec, 2004 Cockburn, A., Jeffrey St. C., (1998). Whiteout, the CIA, Drugs and the Press. New York; Verso. ISBN 1-85984-258-5. Hitz, F., (1998 ). CIA Inspector General report into allegations of connections between the CIA and the Contras in cocaine trafficking to the Unites States. Electronic source available https://www.ciagov/library/reports/general-reports- 1/cocaine/reports/index.html Accessed on January 11, 2008 Podesta, D., Farah D., (1993) Drug Policy in Andes Called Failure. Washington Post March 27, 1993 Redlich , Warren ( February 05, 2005 ). A substantive Due Process Challenge to the War on Drugs. Electronic source available at http://www.redlichlaw.com/crim/substantive-due-process-drug-war-pdf Accessed on January 11, 2008 Rolling Stone Magazine (November 27, 2007 ). How America Lost the War on Drugs. Electronic source Available at http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/17438347 Retrieved on January 11, 2008. The National Security Archive; (2006). The Contras, Cocaine, and the Covert Operations / Documentation of the Official U.S. Knowledge of Drug Trafficking and the Contras. The George Washington University. Published on July 22, 2006 The United Methodist Church (2004). Drugs and alcohol concerns: the Book of Resolutions of the United Methodist Church; the United Methodist Publishing House . Read More