Jack Alexander, in a composition for Literature class, discusses the negative consequences of drug criminalization in the United States. Alexander highlights how this policy has led to mass incarceration, heavily affecting lower-income and minority communities.

The criminalization of drug use, in Alexander's view, is a discriminatory policy rather than a legitimate effort to curb drug consumption. The War on Drugs, which began in the 70s, has been a tool for disrupting minority communities. Government officials knew that it was not possible to make it illegal to be against the Vietnam War or blacks, so they associated hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. The goal was to criminalize drugs heavily and disrupt these communities by arresting their leaders, raiding homes, breaking up meetings, and vilifying them on the evening news. Thus, Alexander quotes John Ehrlichman, Richard Nixon's domestic policy advisor, who admitted that officials "knew we were lying about the drugs."

Moreover, criminalizing drugs has had a lot of collateral damage. Governments at all levels have spent billions of dollars on law enforcement and incarceration, with little success in reducing drug use or availability. This policy has also created a black market controlled by violent gangs and drug cartels. Thus, it has led to corruption, violence, and the loss of legitimate economic activity and tax revenue.

The War on Drugs has also contributed to the overpopulation of prisons, where over 2.3 million people are imprisoned, including drug offenders sentenced for non-violent offenses. Overcrowding in prisons has strained the criminal justice system, leading to even more problems.

Alexander concludes that the War on Drugs is ineffective - the global production and consumption of illegal drugs have not significantly decreased, and drug use has even increased in some cases. Thus, Alexander emphasizes the need for a new approach, one that is preventative, educational, and treatment-oriented. This alternative approach requires collaboration and cooperation from all levels of society and the willingness to embrace new ideas and methods. Only then can the war on drugs effectively end and this complex problem resolved.

Sources:

• Syal, Rajeev. "Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor." The Guardian, 12 Dec. 2009, https://www.theguardian.com/global/2009/dec/13/drug-money-banks-saved-un-cfief-claims

• Pearl, Betsy. American Progress, 27 June 2018, www.americanprogress.org/article/ending-war-drugs-numbers/.

• Gray, James P. tikkun, tikkun, 2012, read.dukeupress.edu/tikkun/article-abstract/27/3/34/10368/Drug-Prohibition-Is-the-ProblemReflections-from-a?redirectedFrom=fulltext.