War On Drugs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

War On Drugs - Research Paper Example As a result, approaches were put in place through legislative support from congress to enhance resource allocation to drug abuse control agencies. However, some of the approaches that have been adopted in the war on drugs have been criticized for being counterproductive and instead limiting the rehabilitation of the victims. In this paper, the war on drugs as adopted in the United States since the 70s will be discussed to demonstrate the level of commitment of the federal government in stamping out the vice. The paper wills also high some of the weaknesses of these approaches and how they have failed to eliminate this vice from the society permanently effectively. The categorization of drugs in the United States into legal and illegal has never been based on any scientific findings or study, but rather on racial stereotypes. For example, opium was the first substance to be declared an illegal drug in 1870 due to the fact that the Chinese immigrants would extensively use it. Anti-cocaine law also followed in the same direction when the south declared it illegal as a result of its preferred use among the black community. Marijuana was associated with Mexican and Latino immigrants in the early 1910s and this led to its categorization as an illegal and harmful substance (Fulkerson and Fida 60). However, the Nixon administration during the 1970s as youth rebellion, political dissent and social disorder continued to rise initiated the modern war on drugs, as we know it today. The administration associated the erosion in social fabric to continued use of such drugs by the youths and this led to the legislative decisions that were made during this period. By declaring the war on drugs, Nixon increased the number of agencies and their financial resource allocation to empower them and increase their ability to address the drug menace. Marijuana was, for the first time, placed in schedule one by the administration of Nixon, sounding a more