The War on Drugs isn't your typical war. It isn't a nation or totalitarian government that we battle; but instead, we battle the drug czars and smugglers that bring the illegal substances into and out of the country. According to Claire Suddath from TIME magazine, "President Eisenhower assembled a 5-member Cabinet committee to "stamp out narcotic addiction" in 1954." From that date, the battle with drugs has raged on for 56 years. In the beginning, it was not widely known as the War on Drugs. According to Claire Suddath from TIME magazine, " the term "War on Drugs" was not widely used until President Nixon created the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 1973."
According to Tom Head from About.com, Nancy Reagan was touring schools to help stop the growing number of children using drugs. A 4th grader at Longfellow Elementary, asked her what she should do if someone approaches her with drugs. Nancy Reagan replied, "Just say no," which is now the slogan for many anti-drug campaigns.
Cocaine soon became an issue. It was the drug of choice for rich people, but in the 1980's, a new version hit the streets. It was processed cocaine that was turned into rock form, and was a lot cheaper than regular cocaine. Tom Head, from About.com, wrote this:
"Then along came crack, cocaine processed into little rocks at a price non-yuppies could afford. Newspapers printed breathless accounts of black urban "crack fiends" and the drug of rock stars suddenly grew more sinister to white middle America.
Congress and the Reagan administration responded with the Antidrug Act of 1986, which established a 100:1 ratio for mandatory minimums associated with cocaine. It would take 5,000 grams of powdered "yuppie" cocaine to land you in prison for a minimum 10 years--but only 50 grams of crack."
This is very intense legislation, but very stupid as well. Both are as damaging as the other, but yet the reprimands for one is less than the other.
In 1994, Joe Biden wrote a provision in a crime bill that allowed the government to use capital punishment for drug kingpins. This just shows how far the government will go to combat drugs.
