History UsefulNotes / TheWarOnDrugs

-->--'''Dominic Trott''', ''The Drug User’s Bible''

With the days of Very Special Episodes being long past, modern media tends to show the darker side of the War on Drugs, highlighting its failures and the negative impacts it's had on everyday people.

Not to be confused with the indie rock band, Music/TheWarOnDrugs.

Today, many people consider the War on Drugs [[http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/06/02/drug-war-report.html to be a disaster]]: not only has it failed to prevent drug proliferation in the U.S., but it’s also had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the nation’s lower-class citizens. With emphasis being placed on punishment rather than rehabilitation, addicts are routinely sent to prison for nonviolent crimes, where they are trapped in a cycle of addiction and incarceration. Anti-drug laws have had a disproportionately large effect on black and Latino communities, who allege that such policies have drastically increased surveillance and over-policing. (More recently, allegations have risen that Nixon ''intended'' to harm these communities when he started the War on Drugs.)[[note]]Nixon's motives are ambiguous: Nixon was known to be very racist against black people and Jews, and John Erlichman was alleged to have said the War on Drugs was designed to persecute the black community. However, the veracity of Erlichman's supposed confession has not been verified, Nixon genuinely thought drugs were a menace to society, and the black community welcomed tough-on-crime measures to deal with a serious heroin epidemic.[[/note]] The U.S. legal system is clogged with countless drug-related arrests, and prisons have grown routinely overcrowded. And despite massive amounts of money being spent to combat trafficking, many illegal drugs are still widely available on the black market, and the drugs' illegality has only empowered cartels. Many nations, such as Mexico, Colombia, and Laos, have suffered horrific violence due to competition between various cartels over control of distribution, contributing to economic and refugee crises. As of 2021, [[https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/50th-anniversary-war-drugs-poll-shows-majority-voters-support-ending-criminal the large majority of American voters]] believe the policies behind the “war on drugs” should end, supporting addressing drug usage as a public health issue first and foremost rather than a criminal justice one.

DrugsAreBad. Chances are, you’ve heard that a hundred times: from your parents, your school, police officers, the government, and the TV shows you watched as a kid. And if you live in the United States, there’s a laundry list of [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoactive_drug psychoactive]] drugs that are [[UsefulNotes/DrugClasses highly illegal]] to buy, sell or possess. Much of this can be attributed to the “War on Drugs”, a U.S.-led campaign to eradicate the distribution and usage of illegal substances within the country.

The War on Drugs is responsible for a lot of [[AVerySpecialEpisode Very Special Episodes]], spearheaded by groups such as D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and the Advertising/PartnershipToEndAddiction, and nationwide anti-drug campaigns such as “Just Say No”. These were primarily meant to teach younger audiences about drug use and abuse, and as such, tended to be very {{Anvilicious}}, often featuring an [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer Aggressive Drug Dealer]] or a character’s DescentIntoAddiction. In hindsight, many of them are [[CluelessAesop Clueless Aesops]] with poor portrayals of how drugs actually work, or why people tend to fall into addiction. Meanwhile, as police officers and the newly-founded Drug Enforcement Administration worked to disrupt trafficking operations, drug lords and TheCartel became the new face of villains in a lot of action flicks.

Today, many people consider the War on Drugs [[http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/06/02/drug-war-report.html to be a disaster]]: not only has it failed to prevent drug proliferation in the U.S., it’s had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the nation’s lower-class citizens. With emphasis being placed on punishment rather than rehabilitation, addicts are routinely sent to prison for nonviolent crimes, where they are trapped in a cycle of addiction and incarceration. Anti-drug laws have had a disproportionately large effect on Black and Latino communities, who allege that such policies have drastically increased surveillance and over-policing. (More recently, allegations have risen that Nixon ''intended'' to harm these communities when he started the War on Drugs.)[[note]]Nixon's motives are ambiguous: Nixon was known to be very racist against black people and Jews, and John Erlichman was alleged to have said the War on Drugs was designed to persecute the black community. However, the veracity of Erlichman's supposed confession has not been verified, Nixon genuinely thought drugs were a menace to society, and the black community welcomed tough-on-crime measures to deal with a serious heroin epidemic.[[/note]] The U.S. legal system is clogged with countless drug-related arrests, and prisons have grown routinely overcrowded. And despite massive amounts of money being spent to combat trafficking, many illegal drugs are still widely available on the black market, and the drugs' illegality has only empowered cartels. Many nations, such as Mexico, Colombia, and Laos, have suffered horrific violence due to competition between various cartels over control of distribution, contributing to economic and refugee crises. As of 2021, [[https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/50th-anniversary-war-drugs-poll-shows-majority-voters-support-ending-criminal the large majority of voters]] believe the “war on drugs” should end.

In 1971, in the face of growing rates of addiction among U.S. citizens, President UsefulNotes/RichardNixon declared drug abuse to be “public enemy number one”. Since then, the United States has spent over one trillion dollars attempting to disrupt the drug trade, prosecuting and incarcerating offenders, and spreading public awareness about the follies of addiction. On the media side, this involved everything from informative [[PublicServiceAnnouncement Public Service Announcements]], to [[ScareEmStraight scare tactics]] being [[EnforcedTrope inserted]] into children's media.

Today, many people consider the War on Drugs [[http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/06/02/drug-war-report.html to be a disaster]]: not only has it failed to prevent drug proliferation in the U.S., it’s had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the nation’s lower-class citizens. With emphasis being placed on punishment rather than rehabilitation, addicts are routinely sent to prison for nonviolent crimes, where they are trapped in a cycle of addiction and incarceration. Anti-drug laws have had a disproportionately large effect on Black and Latino communities, who allege that such policies have drastically increased surveillance and over-policing. (More recently, allegations have risen that Nixon ''intended'' to harm these communities when he started the War on Drugs.)[[note]]Nixon's motives are ambiguous: Nixon was known to be very racist against black people and Jews, and John Erlichman was alleged to have said the War on Drugs was designed to persecute the black community. However, the veracity of Erlichman's supposed confession has not been verified, Nixon genuinely thought drugs were a menace to society, and the black community welcomed tough-on-crime measures to deal with a serious heroin epidemic[[/note]]. The U.S. legal system is clogged with countless drug-related arrests, and prisons have grown routinely overcrowded. And despite massive amounts of money being spent to combat trafficking, many illegal drugs are still widely available on the black market, and the drugs' illegality has only empowered cartels. Many nations, such as Mexico, Colombia, and Laos have suffered horrific violence due to competition between various cartels over control of distribution, contributing to economic and refugee crises. As of 2021, [[https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/50th-anniversary-war-drugs-poll-shows-majority-voters-support-ending-criminal the large majority of voters]] believe the “war on drugs” should end.

Today, many people consider the War on Drugs [[http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/06/02/drug-war-report.html to be a disaster]]: not only has it failed to prevent drug proliferation in the U.S., it’s had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the nation’s lower-class citizens. With emphasis being placed on punishment rather than rehabilitation, addicts are routinely sent to prison for nonviolent crimes, where they are trapped in a cycle of addiction and incarceration. Anti-drug laws have had a disproportionately large effect on Black and Latino communities, who allege that such policies have drastically increased surveillance and over-policing. (More recently, allegations have risen that Nixon ''intended'' to harm these communities when he started the War on Drugs.) The U.S. legal system is clogged with countless drug-related arrests, and prisons have grown routinely overcrowded. And despite massive amounts of money being spent to combat trafficking, many illegal drugs are still widely available on the black market, and cartels have only been empowered by the drugs' illegality. Many nations, such as Mexico, Colombia, and Laos have suffered horrific violence due to competition between various cartels over control of distribution, contributing to economic and refugee crises. As of 2021, [[https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/50th-anniversary-war-drugs-poll-shows-majority-voters-support-ending-criminal the large majority of voters]] believe the “war on drugs” should end.

Today, many people consider the War on Drugs [[http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/06/02/drug-war-report.html to be a disaster]]: not only has it failed to prevent drug proliferation in the U.S., it’s had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the nation’s lower-class citizens. With emphasis being placed on punishment rather than rehabilitation, addicts are routinely sent to prison for nonviolent crimes, where they are trapped in a cycle of addiction and incarceration. Anti-drug laws have had a disproportionately large effect on Black and Latino communities, who allege that such policies have drastically increased surveillance and over-policing. (More recently, allegations have risen that Nixon ''intended'' to harm these communities when he started the War on Drugs.) The U.S. legal system is clogged with countless drug-related arrests, and prisons have grown routinely overcrowded. Many nations, such as Mexico, Colombia, and Laos have suffered horrific violence due to competition between various cartels over control of distribution. And despite massive amounts of money being spent to combat trafficking, many illegal drugs are still widely available on the black market, often fueled by TheCartel. As of 2021, [[https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/50th-anniversary-war-drugs-poll-shows-majority-voters-support-ending-criminal the large majority of voters]] believe the “war on drugs” should end.

Today, many people consider the War on Drugs [[http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/06/02/drug-war-report.html to be a disaster]]: not only has it failed to prevent drug proliferation in the U.S., it’s had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the nation’s lower-class citizens. With emphasis being placed on punishment rather than rehabilitation, addicts are routinely sent to prison for nonviolent crimes, where they are trapped in a cycle of addiction and incarceration. Anti-drug laws have had a disproportionately large effect on Black and Latino communities, who allege that such policies have drastically increased surveillance and over-policing. The U.S. legal system is clogged with countless drug-related arrests, and prisons have grown routinely overcrowded. Many nations, such as Mexico, Colombia, and Laos have suffered horrific violence due to competition between various cartels over control of distribution. And despite massive amounts of money being spent to combat trafficking, many illegal drugs are still widely available on the black market, often fueled by TheCartel. As of 2021, [[https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/50th-anniversary-war-drugs-poll-shows-majority-voters-support-ending-criminal the large majority of voters]] believe the “war on drugs” should end.

->''"We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."''
-->--'''John Ehrlichman (Nixon's aide)''', ''Harper's Magazine interview[[note]]It is important to note that the veracity of this quote has been challenged by members of Ehrlichman's family, who contest the fact that the author somehow waited 22 years to publish the quote[[/note]]

The War on Drugs is responsible for a lot of [[AVerySpecialEpisode Very Special Episodes]], spearheaded by groups such as D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and the Advertising/PartnershipToEndAddiction, and nationwide anti-drug campaigns such as “Just Say No”. These were primarily meant to teach younger audiences about drug use and abuse, and as such, tended to be very {{Anvilicious}}, often featuring an [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer Aggressive Drug Dealer]] or a character’s DescentIntoAddiction. In hindsight, many of them are [[CluelessAesop Clueless Aesops]] with poor portrayals of how drugs actually work, or why people tend to fall into addiction.

DrugsAreBad. Chances are, you’ve heard that a hundred times: from your parents, your school, police officers, the government, and the TV shows you watched as a kid. And if you live in the United States, there’s a laundry list of [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoactive_drug psychoactive]] drugs that are highly illegal to buy, sell or possess. Much of this can be attributed to the “War on Drugs”, a U.S.-led campaign to eradicate the distribution and usage of illegal substances within the country.

Not to be confused with the indie rock band, Music/TheWarOnDrugs.''

->''"We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."''
-->--'''John Ehrlichman (Nixon's aide)''', ''Harper's Magazine interview

->''"We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."''

Not to be confused with the indie rock band, Music/TheWarOnDrugs.

Today, many people consider the War on Drugs [[http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/06/02/drug-war-report.html to be a disaster]]: not only has it failed to prevent drug proliferation in the U.S., it’s had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the nation’s lower-class citizens. With emphasis being placed on punishment rather than rehabilitation, addicts are routinely sent to prison for nonviolent crimes, where they are trapped in a cycle of addiction and incarceration. Anti-drug laws have had a disproportionately large effect on Black and Latino communities, who allege that such policies have drastically increased surveillance and over-policing. The U.S. legal system is clogged with countless drug-related arrests, and prisons have grown routinely overcrowded. And despite massive amounts of money being spent to combat trafficking, many illegal drugs are still widely available on the black market, often fueled by TheCartel. As of 2021, [[https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/50th-anniversary-war-drugs-poll-shows-majority-voters-support-ending-criminal the large majority of voters]] believe the “war on drugs” should end.

The War on Drugs is responsible for a lot of [[AVerySpecialEpisode Very Special Episodes]], spearheaded by groups such as D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and the UsefulNotes/PartnershipToEndAddiction, and nationwide anti-drug campaigns such as “Just Say No”. These were primarily meant to teach younger audiences about drug use and abuse, and as such, tended to be very {{Anvilicious}}, often featuring an [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer Aggressive Drug Dealer]] or a character’s DescentIntoAddiction. In hindsight, many of them are [[CluelessAesop Clueless Aesops]] with poor portrayals of how drugs actually work, or why people tend to fall into addiction.

The War on Drugs is responsible for a lot of [[AVerySpecialEpisode Very Special Episodes]], spearheaded by groups such as D.A.R.E. (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and nationwide anti-drug campaigns such as “Just Say No”. These were primarily meant to teach younger audiences about drug use and abuse, and as such, tended to be very {{Anvilicious}}, often featuring an [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer Aggressive Drug Dealer]] or a character’s DescentIntoAddiction. In hindsight, many of them are [[CluelessAesop Clueless Aesops]] with poor portrayals of how drugs actually work, or why people tend to fall into addiction.

-->'''Dominic Trott''', ''The Drug User’s Bible''

In 1971, in the face of growing rates of addiction among U.S. citizens, President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan declared drug abuse to be “public enemy number one”. Since then, the United States has spent over one trillion dollars attempting to disrupt the drug trade, prosecuting and incarcerating offenders, and spreading public awareness about the follies of addiction. On the media side, this involved everything from informative [[PublicServiceAnnouncement Public Service Announcements]], to [[ScareEmStraight scare tactics]] being [[EnforcedTrope inserted]] into children's media.

The War on Drugs is responsible for a lot of [[AVerySpecialEpisode Very Special Episodes]], spearheaded by groups such as DARE (Drug Addiction Resistance Education) and nationwide anti-drug campaigns such as “Just Say No”. These were primarily meant to teach younger audiences about drug use and abuse, and as such, tended to be very {{Anvilicious}}, often featuring an [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer Aggressive Drug Dealer]] or a character’s DescentIntoAddiction. In hindsight, many of them are [[CluelessAesop Clueless Aesops]] with poor portrayals of how drugs actually work, or why people tend to fall into addiction.

The War on Drugs is responsible for a lot of [[AVerySpecialEpisode Very Special Episodes]], meant to teach younger audiences about drug use and abuse. Such episodes tend to be very {{Anvilicious}}, often featuring an [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer Aggressive Drug Dealer]] or a character’s DescentIntoAddiction. In hindsight, many of them are [[CluelessAesop Clueless Aesops]] with poor portrayals of how drugs actually work, or why people tend to fall into addiction.

Today, many people consider the War on Drugs to be a disaster: not only has it failed to prevent drug proliferation in the U.S., it’s had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the nation’s lower-class citizens. With emphasis being placed on punishment rather than rehabilitation, addicts are routinely sent to prison for nonviolent crimes, where they are trapped in a cycle of addiction and incarceration. Anti-drug laws have had a disproportionately large effect on Black and Latino communities, who allege that such policies have drastically increased surveillance and over-policing. The U.S. legal system is clogged with countless drug-related arrests, and prisons have grown routinely overcrowded. And despite massive amounts of money being spent to combat trafficking, many illegal drugs are still widely available on the black market, fueled by TheCartel. As of 2021, [[https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/50th-anniversary-war-drugs-poll-shows-majority-voters-support-ending-criminal the large majority of voters]] believe the “war on drugs” should end.

The War on Drugs is responsible for a lot of [[AVerySpecialEpisode Very Special Episodes]], meant to teach younger audiences about drug use and abuse. Such episodes tend to be very {{Anvilicious}}, often featuring an [[TheAggressiveDrugDealer AggressiveDrugDealer]] or a character’s DescentIntoAddiction. In hindsight, many of them are [[CluelessAesop Clueless Aesops]] with poor portrayals of how drugs actually work, or why people tend to fall into addiction.

Today, many people consider the War on Drugs to be a disaster: not only has it failed to prevent drug proliferation in the U.S., it’s had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the nation’s lower-class citizens. With emphasis being placed on punishment rather than rehabilitation, addicts are routinely sent to prison for nonviolent crimes, where they are trapped in a cycle of addiction and incarceration. Anti-drug laws have had a disproportionately large effect on Black and Latino communities, who allege that such policies have drastically increased surveillance and over-policing. The U.S. legal system is clogged with countless drug-related arrests, and prisons have grown routinely overcrowded. As of 2021, [[https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/50th-anniversary-war-drugs-poll-shows-majority-voters-support-ending-criminal the large majority of voters]] believe the “war on drugs” should end.

In 1971, in the face of growing rates of addiction among U.S. citizens, President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan declared to be “public enemy number one”. Since then, the United States has spent over one trillion dollars attempting to disrupt the drug trade, prosecuting and incarcerating offenders, and spreading public awareness about the follies of addiction. On the media side, this involved everything from informative [[PublicServiceAnnouncement Public Service Announcements]], to [[ScareEmStraight scare tactics]] being [[EnforcedTrope inserted]] into children's media.

The War on Drugs is responsible for a lot of [[AVerySpecialEpisode Very Special Episodes]], meant to teach younger audiences about drug use and abuse. Such episodes tend to be very {{Anvilicious}}, often featuring an AggressiveDrugDealer or a character’s DescentIntoAddiction. In hindsight, many of them are [[CluelessAesop Clueless Aesops]] with poor portrayals of how drugs actually work, or why people tend to fall into addiction.

Today, many people consider the War on Drugs to be a disaster: not only has it failed to prevent drug proliferation in the U.S., it’s had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the nation’s lower-class citizens. With emphasis being placed on punishment rather than rehabilitation, addicts are routinely sent to prison for nonviolent crimes, where they are trapped in a cycle of addiction and incarceration. Anti-drug laws have had a disproportionately large effect on Black and Latino communities, who allege that such policies have drastically increased surveillance and over-policing. The U.S. legal system is clogged with countless drug-related arrests, and prisons have grown routinely overcrowded. As of 2021, [[https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/50th-anniversary-war-drugs-poll-shows-majority-voters-support-ending-criminal the large majority of voters]] believe the “war on drugs” should end.

In 1971, in the face of growing rates of addiction among U.S. citizens, President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan declared to be “public enemy number one”. Since then, the United States has spent over one trillion dollars attempting to disrupt the drug trade, prosecuting and incarcerating offenders, and spreading public awareness about the follies of addiction. On the media side, this involved everything from informative PublicServiceAnnouncements, to [[ScareEmStraight scare tactics]] being [[EnforcedTrope inserted]] into children's media.

The War on Drugs is responsible for a lot of [[AVerySpecialEpisode Very Special Episodes]], meant to teach younger audiences about drug use and abuse. Such episodes tend to be very {{Anvilicious}}, often featuring an AggressiveDrugDealer or a character’s DescentIntoAddiction. In hindsight, many of them are [[CluelessAesop]]s with poor portrayals of how drugs actually work, or why people tend to fall into addiction.