For nigh one-half a century, immense resources in the form of time and money have been poured into the empty ideological paradigm that is the "war on drugs-" The logic of this war is predicated on the naïve theory that "if the production can be halted, the market is not supplied, so consumers cannot purchase and use the substance."1 Afterwards decades of feel, the futility of this approach has become clear to scholars and practitioners. Nosotros question, then, why governments, such as that of the US, have remained committed to the state of war on drugs paradigm. In considering this, we draw from the ideas of Kuhn,2 who popularized the concept of image, and from Popper,3 who is best known for his notion of fais inability. In short, Popper claimed that theoretical ideas should be subjected to empirical scrutiny and, when appropriate, be falsified and rejected. Nevertheless, this is frequently non what happens. As Kuhn noted, even in the confront of contradictory prove, social groups may remain committed to a paradigm and reject to discuss the affair further creating and perpetuating a culture of epistemic closure. In spite of this entrenched commitment to the state of war on drugs epitome, nosotros see hope that a competing epitome—a sustainable development or "public health" paradigm—may be gaining traction in at least some parts of the world.

Join for complimentary

Islamic republic of pakistan Journal of Criminology 55

5olume 3, No. 2, Oct 2011, pp. 55 - 70

The Failure of the War on Drugs:

A Comparative Perspective

Dr. Gregory Fulkerson and Dr. Fida Mohammad

Abstruse

Later on 9/eleven, Pakistan's involvement in the War on Terrorism has significantly degraded its

security apparatuses, undermined civil society and, due to rampant abuse and

lawlessness, information technology has seen its economic institutions fall into shambles. In a situation where the

writ of country is so weak, opening another front, e.yard., the War on Drugs, can simply be

counterproductive. In this newspaper nosotros will explore the difficulties encountered when various

countries are expected to fight the War on Drugs every bit part of the Due westar on Terror. Even those

countries that may be considered as having a relatively high capacity in the form of a strong

country, such as the United States, still discover that they cannot win this and so-chosen "war." More often than not,

we view the problem of drugs every bit requiring a more sophisticated public health, demand-side

solution. In addition, nosotros conclude that attempts to tie the War on Drugs to the State of war on Tmistake

should exist halted, every bit this just distracts from the focus of treating drug users. In this paper we

will consider the problems on both the supply and demand sides of the drug problem, using a

comparative perspective that evaluates the state of the literature that is presently heavily

focused on the U.South. merely.

Keywords

War on Drugs; State of war on Tfault; Supply Reduction; Demand Reduction

Failure of the War on Drugs in the U.S.

Since U.South. President Richard Nixon get-go waged the War on Drugs in 1971,

edifice on decades of failing efforts that appointment back to the Harrison Act of 1914

(Whitebread 1995, cited in Lurigio, Rabinowitz, and Lenik 2009), information technology has get

increasingly clear that efforts to quell the drug problem have done nothing but

exacerbate them further (Mauer 1999). According to Caulkins et al. (1995), the

almanac toll of the state of war is near $60 billion for the U.S., with major outlays going to

the arrest and incarceration of the drug users and low level distributors. In the year

2000, for case, over 1 and a half 1000000 people were arrested for drug related

crimes, with nigh fourscore% of these for simple possession (BJS 2002). The extremely

high cost of enforcement means that a greater proportion of Federal dollars are at present

going to corrections than for college education (Mitchell 2009). Similar patterns

exist at the state level equally well. For example, according to White (2009) there are

currently about 25,000 people incarcerated in Massachusetts prisons and canton

facilities alone, marker a rise of 368% between 1980 and 2008.

56

Most of the negative consequences of the War on Drugs are related to

incarceration and accept resulted from "social exclusion" (Foster and Hagan 2002).

Incarceration leads to myriad forms of social, political, and economic damages, both

personally as well as for the families and communities that lose their members

(Braman 2002; Mumola 2000). For instance, once convicted, drug users and

distributors find it much more hard to find legal employment or to receive

authorities aid in the course of food stamps or Temporary Aid to Needy Families

(Goodman 2007), and become ineligible to vote. Meanwhile, when a contributing

member of a family is incarcerated, their removal undermines the financial and

social stability of the family. As a result, the children get more likely to commit

drug-related crimes (Lurigio et al. 2009).

In spite of incredible and rising expenditures associated with drug enforcement

at the national and global levels, there is no evidence to propose that the War on

Drugs has actually led to decreases in the global supply of illegal drugs (MacCoun

and Reuter 2001). Mitchell (2009) provides show to suggest that the supply has

not been diminished, every bit evidenced by a survey of high schoolhouse seniors who report

keen ease in accessing and paying for drugs that are now more arable and cheaper

than ever earlier. Even staunch supporters of the drug war, such every bit former Drug Czar

William Bennett, provide show of the policy's failure:

Between 1992 and 1999, rates of current drug use -- defined as using once

a calendar month or more -- increased by xv%. Rates of marijuana utilize increased

11%. The state of affairs was far worse amongst our children: Lifetime use of

illegal drugs increased by 37% among eighth-graders and 55% amidst

tenth-graders. Wdue east have reached the point where more than one-quarter of

all high school seniors are current users of illegal drugs; indeed, rates of

monthly drug use among high school seniors increased 86% betwixt

1992 and 1999 (cited in Redlich north.d.: 76)

Hence, it is logical to ask that if a policy is apparently failing, why would it

proceed to be pursued? This is the question raised by the caput of the Office of

National Drug Control Policy, who admits a general failure of the policy (in Brayton

2010, p. ane): "After 40 years, the United States' war on drugs has cost $1 trillion and

hundreds of thousands of lives, and for what? Drug utilize is rampant and violence even

more fell and widespread." Even the present U.S. drug czar Gil Kerlikowske

concedes the strategy hasn't worked (in Brayton 2010, p. 1): "In the grand scheme, it

has not been successful. Xl years afterwards, the business concern about drugs and drug

problems is, if anything, magnified, intensified."

It isn't just that the war on drugs has failed, but that the war on drugs creates

many, if not most, of the very problems used to justify the state of war in the first place. The

failure of the drug war policy is realized in high level political positions as well. For

case, co-ordinate to Sen. James Webb:

Dr. Gregory Fulkerson and Dr. Fida Mohammad

Pakistan Journal of Criminology 57

Our electric current policy mix is not working the way we want it to. The ease

with which drugs can be obtained, the price, the number of people using

drugs, the violence on the edge all show that. Westwarde need to rethink our

responses to the health furnishings, the economic impacts, the event on offense.

Wdue east demand to rethink our approach to the supply and demand of drugs"

(cited in White Jr. 2009: i).

Thus, the argument that there is a general failure of the Due westar on Drugs is not

something put along by obscure scholars or radical thinkers, but by individuals

straight involved on the inside, occupying top positions, who are enlightened of

inadequacies from personal experience. These critiques are even more troubling

when we consider that alternative measures for addressing the drug problem, such as

those based on a public health model take proven more than effective even while

receiving significantly fewer resources (McLellan 2002). In sum, we have come to

question why the drug trouble remains to be framed equally a War, and why alternative

approaches take not been adopted. Not merely is the U.S.-based War on Drugs

ineffective at addressing supply (it has been somewhat successful at addressing

need), information technology is now a war that is expanding outward across the globe in new and

powerful ways. Rather than witnessing the demise of a failed policy, what we are

seeing is an expectation on the part of the U.S. for the rest of the world to adopt the

very same policy we already know to exist a disaster.

The Internationalization of the War on Drugs

Wdue east maintain that the Westar on Drugs was radically redefined by U.S. President

George Due west. Bush, when he linked it to the Due westar on Tfault. The Due westar on Drugs always

had an international dimension based on attempts at interdiction (intercepting the

flow of illicit drugs) in other countries, and this has been the instance since the time of

Nixon. However, the new kind of internationalization of the War on Drugs means

much more than than interdiction. It means that allies of the U.S. are expected to adopt

their own version of the Due westar on Drugs.

How did the War on Drugs become tied to the Westwardar on Terror? Bush-league based this leap on

the idea that the 9/11 hijackers received their funding from illegal drug sales, and

that therefore in order to stop terrorism, the continued profits from illicit drugs had

to terminate. While this is not entirely illogical, the problem is in the execution of the program.

The U.Southward. based Westwardar on Drugs has never successfully stopped the supply of drugs.

The only success has been on the demand side, helping drug users and abusers to quit

using the drugs. In any case, the internationalization of the State of war on Drugs opens a

new chapter in the long history of the drug war and is already having greatly

negative ramifications.

58

Amongst these is the escalating geopolitical tension resulting from the

expectation past the U.S. that all countries engaged in the War on Terror should besides

simultaneously be engaged in the War on Drugs. This translates into asking some of

the globe's most depleted countries--those who are already spending a fortune to

end terrorism, like Islamic republic of pakistan -- to brand even heavier investments to disrupt the flow

of illicit drugs. The U.S. has had to compensate for this by supplying more funds in

key fronts in the War on Tfault (Lurigio et al. 2009). For example, this is the case

with recent investments in S America. According to Lobe (2001, cited in

Lurigio et al. 2009), adding to an earlier $1.3 billion outlay authorized past President

Clinton to interdict Columbian drugs, President George W. Bush-league asked for an

additional $800 meg to assistance bordering countries such equally Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador,

Peru, Panama, and 5enezuela in fighting the dual Wars on Drugs and Tmistake.

In considering the viability of the drug war at the international level and efforts

to diminish the supply of drugs, it is important to note that success itself volition be

contingent on the detail logistics of how drugs are manufactured and distributed

in various regions. In curt, distribution is greatly affected past geography, and information technology is

necessary to assess key geographic factors shaping the structural and cultural

evolution of a given region (Oldknow 2000). Mostly, geographic factors take a

tremendous influence on development, and are directly related to the mode we draw

political boundaries and to the way we ship goods and people. For example, the

Gilt Triangle in South-Eastward Asia, where the borders of Thailand, China, and

Burma intersect and where opium is grown, is an area that benefits from geographic

isolation, allowing production to continue undisturbed and out of view of the

authorities. Similarly, geographic conditions of the Afghanistan/1000hyber

Pukhtunkhwa (KPK) region that lies between the Indus Ganges region to its

Southeast, Iran to its Westward, and Primal Asia to its Northward, is perfectly situated to be

both a "corridor" and a "bulwark." This makes it a prime number location for moving goods

back and forth without suspension. As a corridor it is possible to easily send

goods from one identify to some other, while the Hindokush provides a barrier to brand

this send become undetected.

Deserts have historically served the purpose of beingness natural barriers, although

with the advent of air transportation this reality has been changing. The Pushtoon

territory has always provided natural barriers as a result of its difficult mountainous

terrain. Anyone travelling along a major merchandise route entering this territory could

easily disappear on short notice. This geographic condition is important to

understanding the history of this region. For case, if it were apartment like Kazakhstan,

then the Soviet invasion of Transitional islamic state of afghanistan in the 1980s may accept been successful,

radically changing world historical trajectories. The hard terrain thus provides

advantages in warfare, assuasive resistance fighters to alloy in and disappear on a

Dr. Gregory Fulkerson and Dr. Fida Mohammad

Pakistan Journal of Criminology 59

moment's notice. These aforementioned advantages help in the movement or smuggling of

goods such as illicit drugs in KPK Islamic republic of pakistan or in Transitional islamic state of afghanistan's isolated mountain

valleys. As a outcome of the unique geographic weather condition of KPK equally well equally the

Golden Triangle, any attempt at interdiction --a major component of the effort to

reduce drug supply--will confront bug that in order to address would crave

resources at a scale that even the wealthiest nations could not afford.

Based on the fact that each geographic region in the globe will have a unique

set of conditions affecting the supply and menstruation of illegal drugs, many of which are

quite complex, it is hard to hold all regions to the same standard. It is not realistic

to think that a country like Islamic republic of pakistan, with modest economic ways (on a global

scale) can monitor the distribution of drugs in what may well be the world's about

difficult terrain. This is peculiarly true given the fact that the government'south

resources are already existence heavily depleted by the Westar on Terror with profound

implications for its future capacity to address the drug trouble or any other social

welfare matter.

Violence and the Westar

Every bit noted, the scholarly literature evaluating the War on Drugs has identified a

number of social, economical, and political problems that take but been magnified

past efforts to fight. However, this literature has focused almost exclusively on the

U.S. and is missing a comparative perspective. There are therefore pressing

issues that receive piffling or no scholarly attention. When examined from a

comparative perspective, violence may be understood as the biggest problem in the

War on Drugs. In discussing the U.Due south., all the same, Mitchell (2009) comes to the

conclusion that at that place has been success in reducing drug-related violence. Mitchell

believes that this may be due to the fact that in the 1990s there was a lot of crack-

related drug violence in the U.S., only due to lower demand, the supply of fissure

shrank and the vehement crime rate likewise diminished. This trend is of course non

generalizable across the unique conditions of the U.Due south.

At the international level, the effectiveness of violence reduction is evidently

going in the opposite direction than the U.S. This is particularly the instance since the

War on Drugs has been tied to the War on Terror, bringing the number of related

injuries and deaths to an all time high. In turn, violence associated with the War on

Drugs is happening in virtually of the major fronts that the U.S. and its allies are fighting

in the War on Terror, including the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan and

other central regions in Africa, Asia, the Middle E, and South America.

There are a number of international examples of rising drug violence that have

followed in the wake of adopting some version of U.S. drug policy (White 2009).

threescore

For instance, Roberts, Trace, & Klein (2001) discuss the aggressive State of war on

Drugs launched by the Thai regime in 2003, that subsequently led to roughly

ii,700 people being killed in Thailand (Grover 2009). In Mexico, violence related to

its War on Drugs has escalated greatly over the concluding few years based in part on a

backfire confronting the state's War on Drugs. In that location has in turn been a beefing upwards of

military chapters to withstand the backfire (Sullivan and Elkus 2010). As a effect,

Castañeda (2010) states that in 2009, virtually 7,600 people died in the Mexican War on

Drugs, marking a rise of over two,000 deaths since 2008, which was itself twice that of

2007.

Prior to the internationalization of the War on Drugs, well-nigh international

violence was the effect of U.S.-based attempts at interdiction. In the combined War

on Drugs and Terror era, governments are increasingly likely to resort to violence

against their own people. Unlike the U.S., where violence has been declining

internally, many nations are seeing a rapid escalation of violence. The tough opinion

of the Westwardar on Drugs policy means that nations are less probable to view drug users as

ill people in need of handling, and more probable to view them as criminals in need

of punishment. This re-framing of drug use provides a justification for callously

murdering individuals, who are themselves quite often the victims of poor socio-

economical conditions.

The Footing of Drug Violence

Historically, the bulk of drug-related violence has stemmed from efforts to

engage and stop the trafficking of drugs by cartels through the use of force

(interdiction). In fact, this was initially the justification for framing the drug

problem equally a "war" rather than something else like a "treatment" of drugs. In many

respects, drug cartels operate similar any multinational corporation, and accept relied on

"security" forces to protect their interests. As government policy has been to engage

these forces, cartels have adjusted by edifice greater capacity and adequacy.

Wdue east would point out, along with González (2009), that much, if non all, of drug

related violence could exist eradicated were the justification for it removed: the illegal

nature of the business model. Due westere the illegality to be taken out of the equation, and then

the War on Drugs and the associated violent conflicts that occur would no longer

have a cause to be. This fact is supported when we examine the case of legal drugs

like alcohol that are regulated and produced by legitimate corporations. For

example, one would not meet vehement turf wars break out between Stolichnaya and

Skyy, or between Miller and Budweiser, since the product and distribution of

alcohol is legal and violence is thus unwarranted and unnecessary. Instead,

contest betwixt legitimate corporations is carried out entirely in the economic

realm.

Dr. Gregory Fulkerson and Dr. Fida Mohammad

Pakistan Journal of Criminology 61

The violence resulting from the international War on Drugs is fifty-fifty more than

troubling when we consider that it is becoming less focused and targeted leading to

many deaths of innocent people. In United mexican states, according to Alfred Corchado (cited in

Sullivan, & Elkus 2010: 2):

Yet as the level of violence increased, the disharmonize has grown progressively

less coherent. Where attacks once mainly focused on the country and other

drug smuggling competitors, more and more attacks seem directed at

civilian populations and more local in scope and origin. In function, some of

this violence is the result of leadership vacuums, local turf wars, and the

difficulty of controlling violent and reckless inferior henchmen. Withal,

it too seems the inevitable outcome of the escalation of the conflict, which

has ripple effects on lower-lodge crime and violence. Slums have become

state of war zones, with drug gangs recruiting discontented and impoverished

youth to get foot soldiers over turf in such slums as Ciudad Juárez's

Barrio Azul.

Of form, not all drug related violence is on the supply side equally some occurs on

the demand side by the users themselves, many of whom are addicted and seek to

acquire what they demand by any means necessary, including violence. While it is

tempting to view such individuals every bit deserving of a violent reprimand, we would

signal to the broader structural context. In many cases, it is not the drug itself that

causes the violence, but the lifestyle that results and the illicit nature of obtaining

and using drugs. Over again, if illegality were removed, the use of drugs would likely

go much less decumbent to fierce crimes. In turn, such individuals might be

idea of as requiring handling and aid rather than as enemies in a war requiring

injury or death. Treatment approaches have been shown to become a lot further in terms of

effectively helping addicted users and reducing the associated costs of incarceration

of constabulary enforcement (Foster and Hagan 2002). In any case, whether the violence exist

carried out by cartels or by drug users, it is clear that the War on Drugs is making

things worse rather than making improvements.

The Supply Side and Police force Corruption

Subsequently violence, another neglected trouble resulting from the Due westar on Drugs--

one that besides affects the U.South. in a negative style--is corruption from those fighting the

War: police force and other related law enforcement officers. It should not exist surprising to

notice that it is hard to reign in the supply of drugs amidst a host of conditions and

factors that make constabulary corruption a much greater likelihood. These factors include

exposure to large sums of money and/or access to large caches of drugs for use and

distribution. Placing private officers in situations where they must weigh the

benefits of a police salary against huge sums of drug money can for obvious reasons

62

lead to corruption. Police in turn may current of air upward either ignoring or else directly

participating in the acts of drug smuggling and/or distribution for personal gain, or

else in drug use for personal recreation. This is a problem for the U.S., where law

enforcement chapters is relatively high. In countries where constabulary enforcement pays

significantly less, and where the moral justification for the drug state of war is even murkier,

the likelihood for corruption increases dramatically.

In the context of the U.S., an of import document on this upshot is the Mollen

(1994) report. Overall, this study finds that the rates of both violence and abuse

take recently been elevated. The report suggests that the police have themselves

become "far more criminal, fierce and premeditated" when compared to previous

generations of those fighting the War. The written report identifies some of the key changes

leading to elevated violence, including more frequent and routine police force raids to

steal resources including money, drugs, and weapons. In add-on to raids, which

though morally repugnant could ostensibly be considered acceptable in the context

of a state of war, are the various supporting roles that law play for drug cartels. According

to the Mollen report, the law tin wind upward "riding shotgun," becoming the hired

hands that provide cover and protection to the cartel's interests. In other words, they

become independent mercenaries, not unlike that of other privatized security forces

that the armed services or legitimate corporations like Haliburton utilise. Finally, in

addition to more frequent raids and cases of being hired hands, are the cases wherein

the police force get central figures in the cartels, responsible for organizing and

arranging new distribution networks for narcotics.

The problem of police corruption has been evolving and becoming an

unintended byproduct of the War on Drugs. The ludicrous nature of the State of war is so

evident to those fighting it--particularly those in loftier level positions discussed

earlier--that they no longer have a moral ground to stand on, leading to a general

constabulary civilisation that is skeptical of the State of war itself. A New York Times reporter noted,

"We found that the New York Urban center Police Department had largely abandoned its

responsibility to police itself and had failed to create a culture dedicated to rooting

out abuse" (Herbert 1994: 30). If officers come to view the War itself as decadent,

then not playing by the rules becomes much easier. In a study on the New York

Police force Department, the Mollen Commission (Tran 1994: A5; Mollen 1994: 18)

found the post-obit:

They utilize the police radio network and code names to mountain and co-

ordinate operations. They oftentimes utilise department equipment to forcefulness entry.

They manipulate fellow officers, their supervisors and the courts to their

advantage. And they fuel each other's corruption through their eagerness

to prove their loyalty and toughness to ane another...

Dr. Gregory Fulkerson and Dr. Fida Mohammad

Pakistan Journal of Criminology 63

For obvious reasons, the Mollen report found that profit was a central cause of

police corruption, though it was not the only motive. Many of the officers enjoyed

the control and power of undermining the State of war on Drugs and its weak internal

supervision of law enforcement practices (Crains 2003). This supervision is weak

due to the lack of internal oversight, as well as the general norm against "ratting out"

other officers. This is a theme picked up more often than not in the news, too equally in other

official reports.

Every bit reported in the New York Times, police abuse in the War on Drugs

should not be understood every bit a new miracle. However, while previously the

trouble took the course of constabulary "looking the other way" and ignoring illicit

activities, the new generation of law enforcement finds itself much more willing to

directly participate and capitalize from narcotic trafficking ("Corruption in

uniform" 1994: two; Gladwell 1994). These trends were noted in another important

U.S. based certificate that explores the viability of the War on Drugs, past the Rangel

Commission. Their written report concluded (Rangel 1998: 4):

One commonly identified gene associated with drug-related corruption

was a police culture that was characterized past a code of silence,

unquestioned loyalty to other officers, and cynicism about the criminal

justice organization. Such characteristics were found not only to promote police force

corruption, but to impede efforts to control and detect it. A second

associated factor was the maturity (due east.g., age) and pedagogy of police

officers. Officers lacking in experience and some higher education were

considered to be more susceptible to involvement in illicit drug-related

activities.

Though both the Mollen and Rangel reports are based on observations in the

U.S., the general conclusions could likely be generalized to other contexts, such as

Pakistan. However, the problems identified are in many cases underestimated, every bit the

profit motive holds more sway and the moral footing for fighting the War is

significantly weaker. The legitimacy of the State of war on Terror is already questioned

heavily by many in Pakistan also every bit on other fronts, and efforts to link the War on

Drugs to the State of war on Terror are going to further undermine the state's legitimacy.

How can police force enforcement--let alone the government or society--be expected to

endorse a policy in Pakistan that has already failed the U.South., where both senators and

leaders of Federal agencies criticize the supply-side approach and telephone call for a

transition to the more effective demand-side public wellness arroyo? How can an

underpaid police officer risk life and limb and plow down dingy money for a morally

cryptic cause?

64

The Demand Side: Drug Employ and Prevention

Of course issues related to the supply of drugs would be moot were there no

demand for drugs in the first place. Therefore, any analysis of the drug problem

would be incomplete that did not also examine the demand side. We would concur

with Mitchell (2009) that need-side approaches take been more than constructive than

supply-side approaches, just we would besides notice some problems. For instance,

programs aimed at youth have been largely ineffective, based on the faulty premise

that juvenile drug use tin can be completely eliminated while ignoring the underlying

social forces that give rise to drug abuse and other problem behaviors in the first

identify. (King County 2001: thirteen). Such programs therefore ignore such things as

family-related problems, educational deficiencies, a weak job market, and other

structural factors that prevarication exterior of the control of any individual in full general, and

youth in particular. For example, information technology is difficult to convince a youth to piece of work long hours

at minimum wage when the alternative is much more lucrative and at least in some

contexts, more prestigious.

Of grade, effective drug prevention programs need to accost the social and

psychological problems underlying drug abuse, so equally to assistance provide young people

with genuine opportunities to pb fulfilling lives. However, drug abuse prevention

should be part of a broader youth development strategy, allowing youth to larn the

social and self-direction skills needed to make responsible decisions in the

broader contexts of their lives, including those parts that they cannot personally

command. Successful programs volition focus on the prevention of legal drug use (e.one thousand.,

booze and tobacco), and focus greater efforts towards helping "high-risk" youth

whose life weather condition are the most conducive to drug use.

A report prepared by the King County Bar Clan (2001: 24), outlines a number

of critiques of the War on Drugs and considerations for culling solutions,

and and so nosotros quote them at length hither:

i. Drug education programs should provide honest and consummate information

about drugs, carefully distinguishing between the degrees and types of harm

and risk associated with the utilize of different drugs. Such programs should

include a discussion of the appeal of drugs, as well as the physiological and

psychological furnishings that tin also pb to excessive and harmful use.

2. The War on Drugs has promoted criminal offence at the local, national and international

levels. The drug merchandise is exempt from regulation and control, and high profits

from inflated drug prices (reflecting the risk of having to evade law

enforcement) create stronger incentives to continue doing business. Increased

constabulary enforcement efforts take spawned college levels of violence. Even every bit retail

Dr. Gregory Fulkerson and Dr. Fida Mohammad

Pakistan Journal of Criminology 65

prices have declined, specially for cocaine and heroin, the international

business in illicit drugs generates about $400 billion in merchandise each year.

3. The criminalization of drugs has undermined public wellness in many ways,

including AIDS manual through unclean needles, the distribution of

impure and hazardous substances and the development of higher authorization and

synthetic substances that may exist more easily concealed, but are much more

harmful to wellness. In addition, the risk of criminal sanctions has, arguably,

prevented drug users from seeking medical attention, especially for addiction,

and physicians are inhibited from providing effective pain treatment due to

federal auditing of prescribed controlled substances.

4. Drug cases take clogged the courts and acquired filibuster in the processing of other

criminal and civil matters. At least half of King County's criminal caseload is

drug-related, and the recent increase in the active pending criminal caseload is

due in pregnant office to controlled substances cases, which business relationship for the

highest number of pending criminal cases (even excluding drug court).

5. The War on Drugs has taken a especially hard toll on economically

disadvantaged communities, both through the massive incarceration of poor

young men and through the sense of danger and disorder brought about by

heavy police force presence, open up-air retail drug sales and the threat of vehement turf

battles. Incarceration of drug offenders has disrupted their families, interfered

with their educational and employment opportunities and deprived them of the

right to vote, perpetuating and exacerbating the social conditions that gave rise

to drug corruption in the first place.

6. Citizens' constitutional rights accept been compromised as a result of stepped-upwardly

drug law enforcement, every bit street sweeps, wiretaps and home searches accept

impinged upon individual privacy. Persons bedevilled of drug offenses lose the

right to vote, the right to concord public office and the right to serve equally a juror, and

getting those rights restored later completion of the sentence is very hard.

The U.Due south. now leads the world in per capita imprisonment, and many of those

prisoners are non-violent drug offenders.

seven. Corruption among criminal justice officials has risen dramatically during the

War on Drugs, equally the payoffs are high and the risks are depression. Enormous profits

from the drug trade have likewise corrupted foreign nations, specially where the

raw materials for illegal drugs are cultivated and processed. U.Southward.-led efforts to

eradicate crops and to fight drug enterprises have brought most political and

economic destabilization and environmental destruction.

66

The use and corruption of drugs creates a series of problems both directly and

indirectly. The directly furnishings are well documented and understood, but are often

confused with the indirect effects. Few drugs are responsible for directly creating

fierce behavior, for instance. The lifestyle that is involved with obtaining drugs and

maintaining oft expensive habits are indirect effects of drug employ. These indirect

effects can be minimized or eliminated with policies that decriminalize drug use and

promote treatment based solutions.

Towards a More than Reasonable Solution than a War

Every bit discussed throughout this newspaper, there is a high level of awareness from both

within and outside the War on Drugs that information technology is a flawed policy, but for some reason information technology

volition not give way to superior alternatives. This outcome is noted by Blumenson &

Nilsen (1998: 65):

... one might wonder why substantially the same strategies persist year after

year, untouched by the wisdom of twenty-v years of experience. And

why exercise and then few public and police force enforcement officials speak out against this

policy? The answer is that the Drug War has accomplished a self-perpetuating

life of its ain, because nonetheless irrational it may be as public policy, information technology is

fully rational as a political and bureaucratic strategy. The institutional

mechanisms we take explored are but 1 office of an anti-drug

mobilization that continues to have profound effects on the liberties and

well-beingness of our people. We sink more securely into this war year by twelvemonth,

failing to adequately examine or comprehend the choices nosotros are making.

Essentially, they are stating that the War on Drugs continues to be fought

because of institutional momentum. We continue to infuse the War with funds, to

create jobs, to build prisons, and to need the same of other centrolineal countries.

Because information technology has been the de facto policy for several decades, it is difficult to pull the

plug.

Still, we claim that a more reasonable approach to the supply side of

the drug problem would exist to create policies that decriminalize and regulate the

production and use of drugs. It is prohibition that artificially inflates prices and thus

creates the conditions for violence and corruption. It is the illegality of drug use that

leads to then many family and community members to be locked away with a range of

negative consequences. Drug use could be treated like booze apply -- regulated,

taxed and restricted to adults. Drug abuse could be treated similar alcohol abuse -- as a

public health problem, not every bit a criminal problem. Excessive reliance on such

criminal sanctions has been securely unsuccessful, and we have ended that it is

time for a new approach. As Brayton (2010) observes, it may be time to declare

defeat in terms of the War on Drugs and ship out a call to bring the troops dwelling house.

Dr. Gregory Fulkerson and Dr. Fida Mohammad

Pakistan Journal of Criminology 67

In order to move towards a more than reasonable solution to the drug problem, an

open up and honest appraisal and word is required related to the criminal justice

system'due south electric current inability to achieve the desired results of reducing the damage done

by drugs while not creating more impairment along the way. Instead of relying primarily on

criminal sanctions to bargain with those who possess or distribute relatively small

amounts of drugs, we should be moving decisively towards a public health model

for those individuals (King County 2001: five).

The War on Drugs is in some respects a "feel expert" strategy because nosotros would

similar to believe that the "bad guys" are being sought out and killed. In this respect, it is

easy to see how information technology has been tied to the State of war on Terror. However, this imagery does not

accurately convey the reality that many of the "bad guys" are addicted drug users in

demand of assistance, while the remainder belong to cartels who detect it necessary to engage in

violence in guild to protect their interests as part of their business model. If the state

were to regulate the use of drugs in a manner that uses scarce public resources every bit

efficiently every bit possible it would remove the motivation for violence amid cartels

and push contest into the economic sphere (King County 2001: ten).

The internationalization of the War on Drugs policy is therefore not a positive

development in the historical trajectory that we have been discussing. Linking drugs

and terrorism is non completely illogical, but the connexion is a loose ane, and

combining efforts to accost both simultaneously distracts from succeeding in

either front end. Weste argue that the drug problem exist addressed primarily on the demand-

side, thus making a crackdown on supply a moot signal. Piece of cake steps to achieving this

are the legalization and regulation of substances coupled with a public wellness policy

aimed at educating and aiding people using and abusing illicit drugs. This should

atomic number 82 to immense cost savings and a major subtract in social, political and economic

collateral damage for families, communities, and nations.

68

References

Bagley, One thousand. (Summer - Autumn, 1988). Us foreign policy and the war on drugs:

assay of a policy failure. Journal of Interamerican Studies and Earth Diplomacy,

30(ii/three), 189-212.

Blumenson, Eastward, & Nilsen, E. (1998). Policing for profit: the drug war'southward subconscious

economic calendar. University of Chicago Constabulary Review, 65(35), 35-114.

Brayton, E. Drug Czar Admits State of war on Drugs Failure. (2010). Science Blogs May 19:

1. Retrieved 26 Apr 2011 at

http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2010/05/drug_czar_admits_war_on_drug

southward.php

Braman, D. (2002). Families and incarceration. In M. Mauer and G. Chesney-Lind

(Eds.), Invisible punishment: The collateral consequences of mass

incarceration (pp. 117-135). New York: New Printing.

Bureau of Justice Statistics. (2002). Drug police force violations. Washington, DC: U.S.

Department of Justice.

Castañeda, J. (May 6, 2010). United mexican states's failed drug war. Cato Constitute, Centre for

Global Liberty & Prosperity Message. Washington, DC: Cato Institute.

Caulkins, J. P., P. H. Reuter, Chiliad. Y. Iguchi, and J. Chiesa. (2005). How goes the "war

on drugs?" An assessment of U.Southward. drug issues and policy. Santa Monica,

CA: Rand Corporation.

Corruption in uniform; excerpts of what the commission found: loyalty over

integrity. (July seven, 1994). The New York Times, Section B; Page 2; Column 1.

Crains, A. (January 5, 2003). Drug cops nether the gun; largest scandal in Toronto

police force history ... or only a 'witch hunt'? nosotros'll know in 6 weeks. The Toronto Lord's day,

p. 30.

Foster, H. and J. Hagan. (2007). Incarceration and intergenerational social

exclusion. Social Problems, 54, 399-433.

González, F. (February 2009). Mexico's drug wars get vicious. Electric current History,

Retrieved from http://www.countthecosts.orone thousand/sites/default/files/United mexican states%27s-

Drug-Westars-Get-Brutal.pdf

Gladwell, K. (May 19, 1994). In drug war, crime sometimes wears a badge: New

York's latest police scandal reflects growing temptations facing officers. The

Due westashington Mail service, First Section; Page A1.

Goodman, R. International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law, (2007). War on

Drugs Puts Justice in Jeopardy, International Society for the Reform of

Criminal Police: Vancouver, pp. 1-3.

Dr. Gregory Fulkerson and Dr. Fida Mohammad

Pakistan Journal of Criminology 69

Grover, M. (June 25, 2009). A Misguided 'War on Drugs'. The New York Times, Op-

Ed page.

Herbert, B. (July 10, 1994). In America: a alarm shot. The New York Times,

Section four; Page xix; Column 1.

Rex Canton Bar Association Drug Policy Project, (2001). Is it time to stop the war

on drugs? 900 Fourth Avenue, Suite 600 Seattle, Washington 98164-1060.

Krauss, C. (May ix, 1994). Law issues' scale eludes senior officials. The New

York Times, Section B; Page 3; Column 5.

Lurigio, A. J., Thousand. Rabinowitz, and J. Lenik. (2009). A Century of Losing Battles:

The Plush and Ill-Advised War on Drugs in the United States." Justice Policy

Journal six(ii): 1-46.

MacCoun, R. J., and P. Reuter. (1998). Drug control. In M. Tonry (Ed.), The

handbook of criminal offense and punishment (pp. 207-240). New York: Oxford

Academy Press.

Mauer, G. (1999). Race to incarcerate. New York: The New Printing.

McLellan, T. (2002). Have We Evaluated Addiction Treatment Correctly?

Implications from a Chronic Care Perspective. Addiction 97: 249-252.

Mitchell, O. (2009). Ineffectiveness, Financial Waste, and Unfairness: The Legacy

of the War on Drugs. Periodical of Crime and Justice 32(two):1-19.

Mollen, Thousand. (July 7. 1994). Commission Written report: Committee to investigate

Allegation of Police Corruption and the Anti-Corruption Procedures of the

Police Department, The Urban center of New York.

Mumola, C. (2000). Incarcerated parents and their children. Washington, DC:

Department of Justice, BJS.

Oldknow, A. (2000). Professor of English Literature, Eastern New United mexican states

University, Portales (expert on the subject of Geography). Interviewed May 13.

Rangel, C. United States Full general Bookkeeping Office. (1998). Constabulary enforcement

information on drug-related politicoice corruption (GAO/GGD-98-111).

Washington, DC 20548: one-43

Redlich, W. (n.d). A noun due process claiming to the war on drugs.

Retrieved from http://www.redlichlaw.com/crim/substantive-due-processouth-

drug-war.pdf.

Roberts, M, Trace, Thou, & Klein, A. (2004). Thailand's 'war on drugs'. The Beckley

Foundation Drug Policy Programme. Oxford: The Beckley Foundation Printing.

lxx

Sullivan, J. & Elkus, A. (Jan 26, 2010). Dare v. cartel: Mexico's criminal

insurgency. Minor Wars Journal. Retrieved from

http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/periodical/docs-temp/358-sullivan.pdf.

Tran, M. (July 8, 1994). Drug-taking police act like gangs, panel finds; officers snort

coke, beat upwardly suspects. The Ottawa Citizen, p. A5.

White Jr., D. (2008). The Failure of the Due westar on Drugs: Charting a New Form for

the Republic. Report of the Massachusetts Bar Association Drug Policy

Task Force. Electronically published.

Dr. Gregory Fulkerson and Dr. Fida Mohammad

The author Dr. Gregory Fulkerson is the Chair, Search Committee, Section of Sociology,

SUNY College at Oneonta, NY 13820-4015. He can be reached at (fulkergm@oneonta.edu) and

the writer Fida Mohammad is an Associate Professor, Sociology Department, State University of

New York, Oneonta, New York 13820 Usa. He can be reached at mohammadf@oneonta.edu.

ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any citations for this publication.

  • William N Elwood William Northward Elwood

While much has been written on illicit drug use, policy, and drugs' relationship to criminal offense, this study examines the drug war as nigh Americans accept experienced it--through mass-mediated rhetoric: presidential drug war declarations, news stories and hype, public service announcements, and the similar. Such rhetoric influences public opinion about illegal drugs, drug users, presidents, and the drug war itself. And according to this author, such rhetoric is also used as a public relations campaign designed to increment the popularity of government officials and to assure quiescence regarding item policy programs. This study demonstrates the underestimated influence of rhetoric, political uses of public relations and the powerful influence they have on public opinion and the policy process. http://world wide web.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=D7366C

This article explores intergenerational implications, specifically the troubled transitions of the children of incarcerated fathers from adolescence to machismo. Although law-breaking rates have decreased annually since the early on 1990s, the social exclusion of fathers through imprisonment has increased, as has the farther exclusion of young adults through homelessness, health-care uninsuredness, and political nonparticipation. Our latent class analysis indicates that xv percent of youth are socially excluded, an judge similar to administrative estimates of severely "disconnected" youth. We combine the logic of a cumulative disadvantage theory and the status attainment image with three waves of the National Longitudinal Report of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to examine the effects of father's imprisonment on the social detainment and exclusion of children during the transition to machismo. Bug of socialization and strain associated with the incarceration and absence of biological fathers, also as land sanctioning of youth from these disrupted families, are important aspects of the cumulative procedure of disadvantage that nosotros identify in these data; however, the interconnected roles of begetter's incarceration and intergenerational educational detainment are pivotal in producing exclusionary outcomes for children in emerging adulthood. Although there is much evidence that the effects we examine are generic across gender, there is besides more specific evidence that the absenteeism of biological fathers from households associated with incarceration leaves daughters at special risk of abuse and neglect past nonbiological father figures and through homelessness during the transition to adulthood.

  • R. Crandall

The Colombian government and people are losing patience with a peace process that has produced few tangible results and a guerrilla group that does non seem inclined to play past the rules of war. Any moves by the next president toward more aggressive military actions against the FARC volition be applauded in Washington. In the post-11 September era, Washington has little patience for the FARC's bad faith at the negotiating table, growing involvement drug trafficking and increasingly fell rural and urban activities. However, before the Bush assistants decides to brand whatever major moves in Republic of colombia, information technology would do well to first incorporate lessons learned from Nib Clinton's Colombia policies, particularly the vaunted $1.3 billion Plan Colombia plan. If it is non careful, the Bush team could stop upward committing the same errors in the war on terrorism as the Clinton administration did in the war on drugs.

  • Francisco Due east. González

Given the rising tide of violence and the mounting show of drug-related corruption at all levels of government, it is probably fair to say that, so far, the cartels have managed to take the lead in a psychological war against the Mexican land.

  • Thomas Southward. Kuhn

Scitation is the online home of leading journals and conference proceedings from AIP Publishing and AIP Fellow member Societies

  • Bruce Michael Bagley Bruce Michael Bagley

Us Principal Executive Ronald Reagan Declared WAR on drugs in February 1982, and pledged his administration to the task of curtailing the burgeoning drug epidemic in the The states. To accomplish this urgent "national security" objective, the federal government rapidly increased expenditures for narcotics command programs during the ensuing 7 years of his 2-term presidency, reaching $iv.3 billion annually in 1988. Enthusiastically backing the president's initiative, the US Congress canonical tougher national drug legislation, widened the US military machine'due south involvement in the war, supported the administration's bulldoze to intensify interdiction efforts along U.s.a. borders, and expanded USdesigned eradication, crop substitution, and law enforcement programs in foreign source and transit countries. First Lady Nancy Reagan launched her "Just Say No" entrada, flooding the American educational system and the public media with anti-drug messages. Ostensibly, all sectors of American society enlisted in the war on drugs and the country began mobilizing for battle.

  • Femi Adegbulu Femi Adegbulu

America'due south sense of security was shattered past the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. This has culminated in ostentatious 'war on terrorism' which, to all intents and purposes, has been misconstrued. This newspaper explores the historical antecedents of terrorism and the attempts at quelling information technology. It views the unfolding tendency of the use of force to 'eliminate' terrorism as faulty. The newspaper believes that until the basic psychology and motivations of terrorists are understood and some of their reasonable grievances addressed, rather than stemming the tide, electric current approaches will exacerbate the incident of global terrorism. The paper concludes by recommending inter alia: that policy and attitudinal change rather than military bravado, volition reduce the ugly incident of terrorism.