Traffic and The War on Drugs

In the past few decades the use of illegal substances has become a prominent issue in the American society. While our political leaders have each chosen different methods of solving the drug issue that our country faces, each policy has both positive and negative aspects. For example, the first Bush administration focused mostly on military spending in an effort to fight stronger than the drug lords and traffickers. The Clinton administration took a different approach to the War on Drugs by shifting military assets to other countries, while also promoting domestic drug prevention policies. President George W. Bush also had a different idea of how to solve the drug problems in America because his administration focused mainly on promoting exaggerated statistics while continuing lackadaisical efforts to provide drug treatment programs to recovery addicts.

When George H.W. Bush took office his administration quickly created a drug policy that made the effort to fix the drug issue in America a true War on Drugs. For the supply side, the administration doubled annual spending to $12 billion dollars, which was spent on expensive weapons including fighter jets and submarines. Bill Bennett, the Bush administration’s drug czar, took the approach of “consequences and confrontation” on the war on drugs. The military was sent after drug traffickers, and the military was given more equipment as necessary. While there was a $450 million dollar budget to chase Caribbean smugglers, it was a pointless effort because cocaine was already being professionally smuggled through Mexico. Demand side, the Bush administration didn’t have much focus. Almost all funds were directed towards military effort, in hopes that pure power would be able to weed out the drug problem like it had won wars in the past.

The efforts of previous administrations to curb the drug problems in the United States are miniscule when compared to the policies of the Clinton Administration. Supply side, the Clinton administration shifted military resources out of the Caribbean and into the Andes. Lee Brown, the first drug czar for the Clinton Administration, didn’t want to waste time in the trafficking countries and instead went straight to the source of the drugs. Millions of dollars were spent to equip police in Bolivia and Colombia so that they could bust crop growers and drug processors. There were also increased efforts to arrest traffickers in Colombia and Mexico which were designed to make drugs more expensive in the American market; reducing demand. Operations in Bolivia and Colombia were considered effective, and by 1996 there was evidence that coca production in Bolivia had declined. There was fear that the Colombian government would fall, so the administration also approved a ‘bailout package’ for the Colombian government. 1.6 billion dollars was sent to aid the war on drugs in the Andes, for efforts such as spraying herbicide on coca crops and providing help to poor farmers. This effort became known as Plan Colombia, which was the Clinton Administration’s main contribution to the War on Drugs.

The Clinton Administration also made a substantial effort on the demand side of the drug problems in the US. There was a $13 billion dollar drug budget in the administration, and studies had shown that the only way to make an impact was through drug treatment. Therefore, the administration focused on drug treatment in an effort to reduce the market for drugs in the US. One goal was also to reduce cocaine consumption by one percent nationwide. Instead of sending drug criminals and addicts straight to prison, they were sent into treatment programs. At first 335 million dollars were dedicated to treating what the administration considered ‘hard core addicts,’ but that budget was cut down almost eighty percent by Congress. To republicans, it seemed as if the Clinton administration had given up on Lee Brown and the drug reform, but became tough on crime. Congress called the Clinton administration soft on drugs, and General Barry McCaffrey was named the administrations next drug czar.

McCaffrey focused on keeping kids from trying pot, even though the gateway theory had been proved false multiple times. Anti-drug advertising on television was also promoted, and one billion dollars was dedicated too buying network time for anti-drug advertisements aimed at teenagers. McCaffrey also targeted citizens who used pot for medical purposes, while some state laws allowed it.

When George W. Bush took office, his administration became devoted to Plan Colombia. Ultimately, it was shown that Plan Colombia had failed, and there was an escalation in the overseas front of the War on Drugs. The Bush administration went for the people in Colombia, and fell to the policies of the older Bush administration. By using 80’s policies instead of the 90’s drug policies that were shown to have some effect on curbing the American drug problem, the Bush administration upset many liberals.

On the demand side of the War on Drugs, Bush, like Clinton, stressed drug treatment. The administration doubled the number of community anti-drug coalitions, and began a campaign to keep kids from trying drugs for the first time. These programs were so focused on marijuana, that other drugs stole the market without any effort being made to stop them. For example, meth quickly spread from the west coast to the east coast, before any policies were designed specifically to target that drug. Policies that resembled the military law and order programs of the 80’s were also put into effect, even though similar efforts were proven to be counter-productive.

While the policies listed above have not all been successful, the fact that political leaders are at least making an effort to stop the problems associated with illegal substances in the United States is a good thing. Overall, I think that the Clinton Administration was the most successful. Studies during the Clinton administration were extremely beneficial to the War on Drugs, by proving for example that treatment programs were more successful that prison sentences. While Plan Colombia ended up to be a failure, I think at first it was a step in the right direction.