The War On Drugs American Foreign And Domestic Policy

The United States has focused its efforts on the criminalization of drug use. In June 1971, President Nixon declared a â€Å"war on drugs.† He dramatically increased the size and presence of federal drug control agencies, and pushed through measures such as mandatory sentencing and no-knock warrants. . The War on Drugs has been a centerpiece of American foreign and domestic policy. The rhetoric of war shaped the impact of methods. Not only does war require military strategies, but an enemy as well. In this case it was easy to construct African Americans and people of color as the enemy in the War on Drugs. These are the groups that the majority of white Americans have always viewed as the source of crime. President Reagan’s anti drug rhetoric was skillfully designed to tap into deeply held cultural attitudes about people of color and their links to drug use and many other illicit behaviors. While the professed enemies of the War on Drugs were drug cartels in drug source countries, the most affected were people of color in inner city neighborhoods, mainly African Americans. Thus, the social and economic mobility of Black Americans has suffered collateral damage from the War on Drugs and damages the upward mobility of the African American communities. By almost any measure, the drug war s impact on African American communities has been devastating. Millions of African Americans have been imprisoned, many have been unfairly treated by the criminal justice system, the rights ofShow MoreRelatedThe Impact Of Latin American Culture On Latin America1656 Words   |  7 Pagesan active war zone, living in Latin America would be much like that. The war being fought here is very different, instead of fighting another country, they are fighting drugs. Although war is generally a negative thing, this one is not. In this war there are negatives, but the positives far outweigh them. 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