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would find more captives and sometimes even gave relatives over to
the trade in order to get more alc.
4. Crack/cocaine disparity
a. Despite the fact that various studies have shown that
pharmacologically crack cocaine is the same as powder cocaine, crack
cocaine has been viewed as a social menace. Generally powder
cocaine is sold in larger quantities behind closed doors in private
locations. Crack cocaine, on the other hand, is sold is smaller
quantities but in open-air markets. Minorities and lower income people
are more likely to inhabit places where crack cocaine is sold so they
are more likely to be arrested for crack possession. Statistically, white
and higher income people are more likely to be powder offenders since
they inhabit upperclass neighborhoods where sales take place indoors.
Crack is sold on the streets generally, where police are more likely to
see it. The penalties for using crack are much harsher with longer
prison sentences for smaller quantities. The federal sentences for crack
compared to powder is a 100:1 ratio. While the sale of 500 grams of
powder constitutes a 5 year sentence, the sale of 5 grams of crack
constitutes the same 5 year sentence. Since both groups have similar
rates of drug use, it is a problem of race and class, punishing the poor
more severely than the rich.
5. Nixons view on drug rehabilitation
a. Nixon felt that the provisions of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse
Prevention and Control Act of 1970 had not been sufficient enough
to eliminate drug abuse. In order to eliminate the drug issue, Nixon
thought that the drug users needed to be rehabilitated. He explained
that the drug market was just like any other, functioning with a basis of
supply and demand, and he wanted to start focusing on the demand
side, since it was clear that a focus on just the supply side was not
efficient. He requested for additional funds, 105 million, to meet the
costs of rehabilitating drug users. If people were rehabilitated they
would no longer need the drugs which would lower the supply for them
and hopefully run the drug business out of the market. In his message
to congress in June of 1971, his main focus was rehab for drug users in
order to put an end to the drug war.
6. Nixons view on the federal governments role in the drug war
a. Nixon felt that the federal government played a very important role in
the drug war and should be involved with putting an end to it. At the
time of his message to congress, he said that many Federal
Government agencies were already involved in fighting the war and
that that was appropriate. He concluded that effort must take place at
the highest levels of the Federal Government since the problem was so
large, and involved international issues, and finally since the states
and cities had limited capacities to deal with it. He proposed that the
Special Action Office of Drug Abuse Prevention develop an overall
strategy for prevention programs, and would extend efforts to all areas
such as education and rehab. In conclusion, Nixon felt that the Federal
ESSAY
During his time in office, President Nixon declared a war on drugs. He
designed a framework in order to fight this war, and in June of 1971, a message to
Congress outlined his plan to do so. He made it clear that he felt it should be the
responsibility of the Federal Government to carry out the plan since it was such a
large scale problem. He also felt that the actions of the past were not sufficient
enough to end the use of drugs and explained his new approach, rehabilitating the
drug users. This message focused on this aspect and its important to ending the
problem. Since his presidency, his vision had not been completely executed, and
the focus on rehabilitation has been lost.
Nixon declared that the war was a national emergency that needed
immediate attention. Because it was such a large scale problem, the states and
cities did not have the means to deal with it, so it was best that major Federal
agencies take responsibility. The authority that would take overall responsibility
would be the Special Action Office of Drug Abuse Prevention located in the
Executive office. It would focus on drug prevention, education, treatment, research,
etc. It would strengthen Federal leadership in finding solutions to cure this drug
problem. It would be checked on regularly to view its performance and to makes
sure it was meeting its objectives. One of these objectives that Nixon considered
most important was the rehabilitation of drug users.
Nixon recognized that the drug market works like any other, functioning on a
basis of supply and demand. Before his message, the focus had been on the supply
side but Nixon decided that a new approach should be taken, focusing more on
demand. Arresting citizens for selling drugs would mean creating more prisons
which is not only expensive, but not going to put an end to the problem. If there was
still a demand for the drug than people would remain willing to meet those
demands and the cycle would continue. Nixon decided on a new priority and that
was rehabilitating the drug users, especially focusing on narcotic addictions which
he felt was a major issue at the time. By rehabilitating the user, the demand for the
drug would dwindle and hopefully shut down the market. In his message to
Congress he requested an additional 105 million for the sole purpose of rehab.
Although this was a lot of money, the costs of drug addiction is much higher. Not
only are thousands of dollars spent each year on narcotics alone, but a lot of times
addicts commit crimes and the costs to families, friends and communities are
immeasurable. It was important the funding goes towards treatment rather than
imprisonment. Nixon strongly felt that in order to fight the drug war, agencies of the
Federal government should focus directly on rehabilitating those addicted to drugs.
After Nixon left office, the war on drugs continued but not all of his vision was
fulfilled. The federal government remained largely responsible for fighting the war,
but the focus on rehab dwindled as new presidents came into office. When Ford
became president his administered was concerned more with inflation and jobs than
the drug war. When Reagan was elected, rates of incarceration skyrocketed which is
exactly what Nixon said would not help end the war. Reagan signed a bill that
created mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses, and with new news being
released about the dangers of cocain and crack cocaine, sentences became harsher
and stricter. When Clinton came into office, he originally advocated for the
treatment of users rather than incarceration but after just a few months, he
returned to old ways and escalated the drug war. After he left he admitted that
there needs to be a change in the entire policy of imprisonment but the war was
now in someone elses hands. Nixon spelled out exactly how he felt would be best
to end the drug war and the main focus of his plan was on rehabilitation but
unfortunately after leaving office, his plan was not carried out.