The United States has been fighting a worldwide war on drugs for decades. Nonetheless, as the financial costs, prison populations rise, and other drug-related violence in the world continues, the government plus other experts are reexamining if the war on drugs' potential advantages is worth the many adverse outcomes. The main aim of the war on drugs is to minimize drug use. In addition, the American government wants to limit international drug trade by making them scarce and increasing their costs, this will make drugs in the United States unaffordable. From this paper, the war on drugs in America has failed in numerous discussed ways. Thus, the fight should take a new wave in consideration of all involved parties, from healthcare use of drugs to influence on citizens. The American war on drugs has led to negative consequences and biased perspectives on the media. This has pushed drug dealers into doing drug businesses online; it might have changed if the aim was not on drug prohibition, drug control, and conviction of all drug users; thus, it is time to reform these strategies.
Beneficial Drugs
The halting of studies of certain drugs has hindered our ability to find the possible benefits of certain drugs, such as psychedelics. There is a thin line between drugs used for recreational purposes and doctor-approved drugs. In the past decade, there have been enough studies concerning the potential benefits of most illegal drugs. Drug abuse consequences extend beyond individual outcomes because the social and health impacts like crime, fetal effects, violence, and family disruptions have a devastating influence on communities and lead to high costs annually (Falcon, 2021). Employment status, socioeconomic developments, educational achievements bring drug abuse, and many other factors present in drug-abusing individuals' lives. However, regardless of these factors, the government's ultimate goal in drug abuse study is to take efficient measures in preventing abuse of drugs in America and minimize its associated consequences and costs. For instance, some drugs like marijuana are illegal in some American states and other nations. Still, the same drug has been known to have medicinal use through its link in fighting cancerous diseases. It can also get applied to offer pain relief from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms, controlling nausea, and minimizing some symptoms of Crohn’s disease. This knowledge and discoveries will change the way others think of addicts, as some illegal drugs can transform the healthcare industry.
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Online Sale of Drugs
Broadly, through the rise in the list of illegal drugs, the dealers are now developing online stores for each well-known drug, including the worst known, making the drugs available in all designs to users. Notably, the drugs are often mixed with other drugs, and users overdose and lose lives. Primarily, the internet has changed people and the world forever. Its introduction into the communities, our homes, social spaces, and workplaces has fundamentally altered all ways of interactions worldwide. In many ways, the internet has been miraculous, educating individuals globally, and it glues people together in a web of connectivity and information. Nonetheless, it comes with a curse. The internet has become a marketplace for the sale of illegal items. The dark web is where weapons sale, drug trades, human trafficking, and other operations occur behind the internet anonymity. Due to the anonymous dark web, many individuals get falsely lulled into a security sense when they purchase illicit medications online (Miller, 2020). The war on drugs in the United States has led to this shift from face-to-face sale of drugs to online selling. These purchases are followed by numerous risks, including possibilities of a drug being laced with something more robust such as fentanyl. In addition, though the dark web develops anonymity for users, buyers can still get arrested for a federal offense of drug trafficking.
Unintended Outcomes
The war on drugs in America is causing more negative and bias perceptions on individual users than advantages. Excessive imprisonment levels, drug user’s criminalization, mandatory sentencing, and death penalties are some of the unintended adverse outcomes of the past war on drugs. Mainly, the American war on drugs aims to minimize the use of drugs. The specific objective is to inhibit and destroy the international drug trade, thus increasing costs by making drugs scarce. Though there is information on drugs getting cheaper, the drug war data shows that the states prevent use by making the drugs less accessible (Tinasti, 2018). Implementing the overwhelmingly punitive law of drug crimes has proved inefficient not only to curtail the manufacture, sale, and consumption of illegal drugs but also has many adverse effects, including overburdening criminal justice programs, pressuring the judiciary, fueling overcrowded prisons, and exacerbating health issues. However, focusing on already scarce resources on low-level criminals and drug consumers has discouraged policymakers from targeting organized crime perpetrators who profit from and fuel the drug addiction of generally disadvantaged and marginalized users for their financial benefits. In addition, cracking down the supply of the drug in one section does not necessarily minimize the whole drug supply. Instead, drug trafficking and production shift to another place. Because the drug business is lucrative, someone will always be willing to take it to countries where selling drugs is an economic opportunity. Thus, the administration is not strong enough to suppress the business.
Conclusion
The big question still lies in whether reducing the drug's potential use is worth the shortcomings that follow, including the worldwide proliferation of violence and strained criminal justice processes fueled by illegal drug markets. America’s war on drugs started decades ago and has been both helpful and unhelpful to the citizens. Some medicinal drugs used in healthcare facilities have been made illegal, drug trafficking has shifted to online platforms, and there is a wide range of adverse outcomes brought about by the war on drugs in the United States. Therefore, if the war on drugs has failed to minimize drug production, use, and trafficking broadly, it is not worth the costs and a new strategy is preferable.
References
Falcon, J. (2021). Situating Psychedelics and the War on Drugs Within the Decolonization of Consciousness. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies , 20 (2), 151-170. Retrieved from: https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/1947
Miller, J. N. (2020). The War On Drugs 2.0: Darknet Fentanyl'S Rise And The Effects Of Regulatory And Law Enforcement Action. Contemporary Economic Policy , 38 (2), 246-257. Retrieved from: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/coep.12447
Tinasti, K. (2018). Toward the End of the Global War on Drugs. Brown J. World Aff. , 25 , 109. Retrieved from: https://heinonline.org/hol-cgi-bin/get_pdf.cgi?handle=hein.journals/brownjwa25§ion=25
