The so-called “War on Drugs” seizures of illegal drugs have little effect on the industry. Current drug interceptions only stop 13% of heroin shipments and 28% to 40% of cocaine shipments (Zill). Between 1984 and 1999, the number of defendants charged with a drug offense in Federal courts increased from 11,854 to 29,306; 65% of those charged had been previously arrested, 16% reported being an importer, grower, or manufacturer, and 25% reported they were street-level dealers (Federal Drug Offenders). In the past decade, federal and state law enforcement agencies have seized over $48 billion in drugs, cash, and assets. The government has not been tackling the major sources of illegal drugs in the United States and only seems to arrest growers, users, and sellers, not those in charge. The government should learn to target the source of drugs and also provide better education to young people.
The highest rates of illicit drug users are found among older teens. In 1999, 22% of tenth graders and 26% of twelve graders had used an illicit drug in the past month (America’s Drug Users). Twenty to Twenty-one percent of young adults age 18 to 20 reported using an illicit drug within the past month. The highest drug using ethnic population is Native Americans and those reporting mixed races. In 1999, 8.7% of men and 4.9% of woman were illicit drug users (America’s Drug Users). The most commonly used drug is marijuana, with 11.1 million users in 1999. The use of marijuana has remained almost constant throughout the 1990s. There was also about 1.5 million cocaine users in 1999, representing 7% of the population.
The federal government’s planned expenditures on illegal drugs for the year 2002 is an estimated $19.2 billion, compared to 2001’s budget of $18.1 billion. The government plans to spend $2,296 million on plans to reduce youth drug use, $8,052 million on reducing drug-related crime, $3,101 million on rehabilitation programs, $2,555 million on border control, and $2,047 on reducing the source of supply. This money is further broken down into specific programs. Parents for a Drug-Free Future Program will spend $5 million dollars on educating communities on drug abuse prevention of young people, and providing scientific information to provide factual information to children. Eleven million dollars will also be spent on the Drug-Free Communities Program, which assists community-based groups to foster local anti-drug activities. The federal government will spend over $126 million dollars on research to improve drug abuse treatment for addicted offenders in the criminal justice system. Twenty-nine million dollars will be spent on the National Data Collection, which will decide which drug-related services are still effective. The most outrageous statistic of all, the federal government will spend $731 million on the Andean Regional Initiative that will give “counter-drug” money to Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Brazil, Venezuela, and Panama (ONDCP). The description by the ONDCP states, “The counter-drug strategy in the region must include funding to bring greater economic and political stability to the region and a peaceful solution to Colombia’s internal conflict.” I find that most of these program descriptions are vague and are generally a waste of taxpayer’s moneys on programs that haven’t been working. Something drastic needs to be done to change federal government policy to either decriminalize certain drugs or to actually attack the sources of these drugs instead of funding money to the source.
Drugs, the terrorist war, and education have affected each and every single American. All of our nation’s problems tie into together like a spider web. There are many problems faced by this nation, that all must be handled one issue at a time. More money should be spent on ending poverty in the United States. We need to discover alternative forms of energy incase of an oil shortage. We need to make drastic changes in our environmental policies to stop doing so much damage to our environment. We need to have a great love and compassion of those different than us and respect the variety of people in the United States. As a nation, we need to all become more involved politically so we have better options for senators, governors, presidents, and representatives. We must remember that freedom isn’t something everyone around the world gets to experience, and we are most lucky for having it. Most of all, we must continue the patriotism that was born on September 11 and never forget how proud we are of our freedoms, right, and beliefs.
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