The War on Drugs in America

     The war on drugs in America has been shown to be a huge failure. It has led to raised incarceration rates,  a militarized police force, human rights abuses, waste of billions of dollars per year, made drugs stronger, and has increased drug usage.
     In the last 40 years incarceration rates in America have risen faster then ever before. According to Time Magazines Fareed Zakaria, "Drug convictions went from 15 inmates per 100,000 adults in 1980 to 148 in 1996, an almost tenfold increase. More than half of America's federal inmates today are in prison on drug convictions." Most of those being held on drug charges are nonviolent offenders who arguably  should not be held in prison.
     Since the beginning of the war on drugs, our police have become more militarized. With teams raiding peoples homes, killing inhabitants, and often harming children and other innocent bystanders.  SWAT teams can perform no-knock warrants claiming to be safer by surprising their victims and to stop them from potentially destroying evidence. However, by bursting into someones home without announcing their presence, sometimes the innocent homeowners mistake officers for intruders, and reach for a gun or weapon to defend themselves. This has lead to over 50 innocent people being killed by the police. Not including such cases that get covered up by planting evidence on the scene to justify the murder, or the opinion that the presence of marijuana shouldn't justify a murder in the first place.
     One reason many police units have been growing more militarized is because using SWAT teams has become more profitable. During these raids, Police are able to seize anything related to the crime regardless of wether or not the owner gets convicted of a crime. In that case the owner would have to sue the department to get their property back. An article from Business Insider titled Why America's Police Are Becoming So Militarized states that "Many police departments now depend on forfeiture for a fat chunk of their budgets. In 1986, its first year of operation, the federal Asset Forfeiture Fund held $93.7m. By 2012, that and the related Seized Asset Deposit Fund held nearly $6 billion." (referenced article)
     Law enforcement officials have cracked down on drug dealers and drug manufacturers, making the drugs more potent and making the dealers more professional. The crack down has forced drug traffickers to be able to fit more drugs in smaller spaces. This lead to stronger drugs and more efficient traffickers.  
     The price of drugs has also increased due to the war on drugs. Drugs will always be consumed by addicts and other users. As the law of supply and demand dictates, when the supply goes down the price goes up. Other people will see the need to fill the consumers demand and they will capitalize on the opportunity, creating more drugs and drug dealers.  The price of the drugs also increases due to the risks involved in making and selling the drugs.    
     The war on drugs has proven to be a huge disaster and it is time to put an end to it. If you have found this post useful, please comment in the section below and share it. Thanks.