UNITED STATES 14 Jul 2009 Nixon war on drugs 40 years ago

President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs on 14 Jul 1969 in a message to Congress. It became the War on Drugs in Jun 1971. Hundreds of billions of dollars and 40 years later, drug consumption and profits are booming. In these desperate economic times in the United States, Washington could see better use for the billions of dollars spent on the drugs war and argue that it is not working.

Nixon pushed through the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Since then fortunes have been built both legally and illegally on drugs. The prohibition, interdiction and incarceration industries can be expected to take aim if budget cutter approach the War on Drugs.

It costs the United States almost US $200 billion a year, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Include alcohol and tobacco-related costs along with health care, criminal justice and lost productivity and the figure exceeds US $500 billion annually. The Office of National Drug Control Policy notes that over US $19 billion was spent on the war on drugs by the federal government in 2003 alone.

The United States prohibited alcohol from 16 Jan 1920 through 5 Dec 1933 with the intention of reducing its consumption by eliminating businesses that manufactured, distributed and sold it. It didn't stop drinking, and fueled the development of its own powerful gangs and crime. The War on Drugs is likened to the prohibition of alcohol, which is regarded as a failed social and political experiment. Critics of the drug war describe it as a policy of using prohibition as a way of controlling the uncontrollable, insatiable desire for a dangerous product. They label it as ineffectual, as it has not slowed drug consumption.

With only 4 per cent of the world's population, the United States consumes two-thirds of the world's illegal drugs. More than 22 million Americans were classified with substance abuse or dependence problems in 2005, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Jan/09

RELATED READING:

Timeline: America's War on Drugs (NPR 2 Apr 2007)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9252490

America's forgotten war: A series overview (NPR 2 Apr 2007)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9286922

War on Drugs hasn't stemmed flow (NPR 2 Apr 2007)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9213877

Deadly war against drugs isn't worth the human cost (Delaware Online 14 Dec 2008
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20081214/OPINION09/812140314/1004/OPINION

The lost war (Washington Post 19 Aug 2009)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/17/AR2007081701716.html