In the early 1920s, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency sought to expand their power and budget by criminalizing substances that have been consumed recreationally and medically for centuries. Through greed and corruption, the DEA mercilessly tore apart families and caused unforeseeable damage by imprisoning perpetrators of victimless crimes. This is known as the “war on drugs.” The United States government has spent billions of dollars actively enforcing drug laws. Many critics argue that such a large amount of money would have a greater benefit to the public if it were spent elsewhere. Alcohol and marijuana are regarded by many Americans to be harmless when consumed responsibly and in moderation. Alcohol was quickly legalized again because of broad public support. Federal marijuana prohibition endures to this very day, but thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have jumped on the bandwagon for medical marijuana or legalization. Prohibition has not deterred Americans from getting their hands on marijuana. Prohibition certainly did not stop people from getting alcohol. Public opinion swayed towards reform in the twenty-first century. Drug prohibition became prominent in the early twentieth century and it has left detrimental economic and social effects on the American public. The enforcement of marijuana laws disproportionately affects minorities despite equal rates of use among people of all backgrounds.
Drug laws, in their ideal form, are designed to discourage citizens from engaging in risky activities, but the current laws endanger innocent people who engage in socially acceptable behavior. The DEA classifies marijuana as a schedule one drug, which means it has no scientifically accepted medical benefits and a high potential for abuse. The government uses this classification to justify penalties ranging from steep fines for possession to a lifetime jail sentence for trafficking. The United States has the largest incarceration rate for drug-related crime compared to any other country. Due to the high volume of marijuana arrests, the budget for drug enforcement has a heavy strain on taxpayers for about a century. “The Budgetary Implications of Drug Prohibition,” which is a report by Jeffrey Miron, a Harvard economics professor, found that the United States government would save $7.7 billion in law enforcement costs following the legalization of marijuana. Not to mention the substantial tax revenue that could come from legal sales. If marijuana was taxed at a rate like alcohol and tobacco, internal revenue would increase by approximately $6.2 billion. Billions of dollars could be saved in state budgets across the country and if it were spent in areas such as education and infrastructure, then the money would be a greater benefit to society.
The man that started the war on drugs is Harry Anslinger, the first drug czar of the United States. Anslinger saw a way to use racism and stereotypes to his advantage. He increased his department’s budget and salaries by convincing Congress that marijuana and all drugs were causing harm to the public and it could only be stopped through prohibition and the enforcement of the law. The famous propaganda of “reefer madness” began during Anslinger’s time. This was a campaign that stereotyped all African-Americans and Hispanics as consumers of marijuana. The film “reefer madness” featured young people displaying erratic and dangerous. This film was projected on television screens across the country. Many Americans had no idea what marijuana was so when they saw actors pretending to go crazy while consuming it, they began to draw comparisons with hard drugs such as LSD and heroin. The American public began to stereotype Mexicans specifically as lazy and dangerous due to the intoxicating effects of the drug that has a Spanish name. For decades, propaganda, funded by the U.S. government, promoted unfair stereotypes that have caused discrimination towards minorities in America. Discrimination is most prevalent in crime statistics because a disproportionate amount of drug arrests are African-American and Hispanic citizens. A report by the American Civil Liberties Union concluded that African Americans are 3.73 times more likely to be arrested for possession of marijuana. Despite marijuana consumption rates being equal among Americans of all races, more minorities are arrested for marijuana-related crimes. The disproportionate arrests of minorities have left a devastating impact on families. For example, taking a mother or father away from their children. For the children, prohibition might force them to grow up without a parent. In the worst-case scenario, children are placed in foster care while their parent serves their sentence in jail. These are just family issues, there are other personal costs to prohibition. Offenses for merely possessing marijuana can prevent a person from receiving public assistance, employment opportunities, financial aid, as well as other things. Mass incarceration for drug offenses has economic and societal consequences that are intertwined. These consequences will have a lasting impact on future generations.
Marijuana prohibition has failed as alcohol prohibition failed. Billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are being used to lock up people making an educated decision about their drug use. It is a giant waste of money to try to protect people from themselves. The fact that the government spends a large amount of money proves that marijuana use is highly prevalent. According to Harry Levine in “Global drug prohibition: its uses and crises,” drug prohibition has been unable to prevent increasing use, cultivation, and normalization of marijuana. Alcohol and marijuana are the major intoxicants that are consumed in the U.S., and they have been engraved in American culture. The prime example of the future of prohibition is what happened with alcohol. These drugs have been a part of human history for thousands of years. It is not likely that marijuana or alcohol The black market’s success and public opinion forced the federal government to amend the constitution to make alcohol legal again. It is only a matter of time before marijuana prohibition meets the same fate as alcohol. Through reform, Americans can minimize the economic and social impacts of marijuana prohibition.
Harry Anslinger
Credit: CBS News
Works Cited
American Civil Liberties Union. (2013, June). The War on Marijuana in Black and White. Retrieved from ACLU: https://www.aclu.org
Levine, Harry G. “Global drug prohibition: its uses and crises.” Queens College: Department of Sociology. The International Journal of Drug Policy. Vol. 14. Issue 2. Pp.145-153. April 2003.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0955-3959(03)00003-.
Miron, Jeffery. “The Budgetary Implications of Drug Prohibition.” Cambridge: Department of
Economics. Feb. 2010. pp. 1-39. https://scholar.harvard.edu/miron/publications/budgetary-implications-drug-prohibition-0.
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