The American Drug War

Lately, there has been some increased attention to the drug war. USA Today ran a front page story about decriminalizing marijuana when California allowed its citizens to vote on the issue this November. With these issues in mind, OTB thought it would be a good idea to review the documentary film The Last White Hope (2007), about the drug war and its implications in American society.
One of the core aspects of the film revolves around the social and political circumstances surrounding the Iran-Contra affair of the eighties. Last White Hope explains the events that lead up to Richard Nixon first declaring a "war on drugs" in 1971 and the creation of the Drug Enforcement Agency in 1973. It then follows the movement until the 1980s when Ronald Reagan was president and the politics at the time of Iran Contra. The film turns on the story of "Freeway" Rick Ross. Ross was the biggest drug dealer in the United States in the 1980s. He owned several pieces of property which he used to convert cocaine into crack and employ dozens of people in the areas around Watts and South Central Los Angeles. Ross was buying his cocaine from Danilo Blandon, who had close ties to the Contras. Ross would spend almost 20 years of his life in prison for his trafficking activities. Blandon would do less than 24 months and was given a job at the DEA upon his release. Those at the top, those responsible for the logistics and funding of this operation, such as Oliver North, were free to pursue a political career or become failed television host.
The film goes on to examine why these laws are kept in place, especially the prohibition of marijuana. A litany of interest lobby to keep these laws on the books. Producers of liquor and cigarettes are some of the biggest donars to the Partnership for a Drug Free America. Private contractors, who are paid billions of dollars to run penitentiaries, and pharmaceutical companies lobby congress to educate them on the dangers of marijuana. Consequently, the DEA's budget has ballooned from $100 million in 1973 to almost $20 billion today. Meanwhile, of all those who use illegal substances in the United States, 85% use only marijuana, meaning that the decriminalization of marijuana would necessitate massive budget cuts to law enforcement and corrections, which, while politically unpopular, would generate billions in taxpayer savings, and, when combined with the tax revenue that such a product could create, would almost single-handily solve state budget issues.
The film almost makes the point of our children. Won't somebody please think of the children!? Well, they have. Unlike alcohol and cigarettes, marijuana, and even much harder drugs, are easy for teens to obtain because drug dealers don't ask for ID. When governments prohibit these substances instead of regulating them, they essentially cede all control over to criminals.
The main focus of the film is, although prohibition is couched in language about saving our communities, it is actually tied into the same political games that allow lobbyist and huge corporations to deny us common sense legislation on issues such as global warming, financial reform, and other issues that make Washington favor Wall Street over Main Street. Until the population stands up to policies that incarcerate non-violent drug offenders and demand that we treat this problem as the medical and psychological condition that it is instead of criminal issue, we will continue to throw money at an un-winable war (sound familiar?) and deny our citizens the rights to do what they want with their bodies and minds.