Case For or Against the War on Drugs Research Paper

Case For or Against the War on Drugs - Research Paper Example Despite many apparent set backs, the war on drugs has made tremendous gains in the making of the world a safer place. There have been concerted efforts in the United States over the past 40 years since then serving President Richard Nixon launched the U.S Government’s war on drugs.1 Several steps of progressive have been made against the flourishing of drug use and sale in the U.S. One such stride has been the advocacy for a paradigm shift in the war against drugs. As was expressed by President Obama in a digital town hall meeting, in 2011, there is a need to move from the old approach of the war to a new one. One way of accomplishing this has been looking at ways of shrinking demand for the drugs among the users.2 This represents a shift from looking at this war as primarily a criminal justice problem3. When looking at the war on drugs as a criminal justice problem, the emphasis on tackling it involves arrest, incarceration, and interdiction4. While this has had good results, it has had the unfortunate disadvantage of letting some of the offenders to slip through the cracks. Currently, there is a move towards looking at the war on drugs as a public health problem.5 This means that the government has acted as a guardian of the public interests6. This thus means that the government has managed to win the hearts of the people who advocate for social justice in the country. Another gain in the war on drugs was the Reagan administration’s efforts to take away the drugs from the consumers through efforts to cut down the crop abroad. This effort can be seen in countries like Bolivia. In this country, the efforts to reduce the drug production saw the seizure of twenty-seven tonnes of cocaine in 1986. This was an improvement from just one tone netted in 1981.