Respond to a colleague. Take a position different from theirs, and elaborate on whether or not the War on Drugs has benefited society. Use APA formatting. Use in text citations and write the resonse as if you are speaking directly to the author.
One unintended consequence of the War on Drugs could be what Eric Holder, Attorney General, states, "There has been a decimation of certain communities, in particular communities of color." This statement holds true from studies of our prison system's inmates and who is imprisoned for drug use to the recent American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) report that states African Americans are arrested for marijuana possession four times more often than whites even though it is used the same between both. (truthonpot.com) Interesting now with the war on drugs going into its 30 or 40th year campaign against drugs that the prison system is continuously reporting overcrowding with non-violent drug offenders. There is some research that supports the theory that nearly half of the prison system has drug offenders that are serving sentences for simple possession or the sentences received are too long for the offense.
Another unintended consequence can be the escalation of how drug enforcement leads to high rates of property and violent crime. The War on Drugs has increased the need for resources to enforce the drug policies which in turn requires the need for increased law enforcement and prison budgets. Empirical studies from Florida, New York and Portugal data, along with various other state and national data continue to report that as drug enforcement continues to be an integral part of the War on Drugs so does the increased property and violent crime rate. (stanford.edu) It seems the more drug enforcement that is stringently forced that is it definitely causes property and violent crimes.
Many criminals convicted for property and/or violent crimes are well documented to be drug users and this is the main cause for what contributed to the drug use which is the main cause of the crime. Even though some try to use drug policy reform that states drug caused crimes are not connected between drug use and criminal activity. Other researchers even dispute the fact by stating that much of the drug related violence results from other factors such as prohibition of drug and not the use of drugs themselves. (Stanford.edu)
Even yet results of the drug enforcement laws and policies creates the problem of what do with the assets recuperated from Department of Justice seizures. The Department of Justice share the proceeds of drug market seizures and assets with the states and local law enforcement agencies. But are these types of proceeds actually something from the economic perspective, the law enforcement agencies should actually be allowed to obtain and keep? Some state legislatures have even mandated that law enforcement agencies receive a share of Department of Justice seizures. Which in turn, some studies even show that some internal police may take advantage of these civil seizure laws to even confiscate property from innocent people claiming the property has been a part of an investigation involving drug us or even illegal drug market activity. (Stanford.edu)
How do we remedy the unintended consequences of the War on Drugs that has been ongoing for so many years now? I guess the jury is still out on that one but I tend to agree with the Attorney General on his thoughts of working to reassess the War on Drugs; the prisons and the length of sentences that our drug offenders are receiving. Especially even now given the fact that marijuana in several states is a legal drug. The War on Drugs laws and policies needs to be reevaluated.
References
Benson, B. L. Escalating The War On Drugs. Retrieved July 27, 2016, from https://journals.law.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/stanford-law-policy-review/print/2009/06/benson_20_stan._l._poly_rev._293.pdf
US Attorney General Admits War On Drugs Had 'Unintended Consequences'. (2013, July). Retrieved July 27, 2016, from http://www.truthonpot.com/2013/08/07/us-attorney-general-admits-war-on-drugs-had-unintended-consequences/