War on Drugs is Not Getting Any Better for the Tax Payer

THE WAR ON DRUGS: STATISTICS AND FACTS

• In the beginning, the DEA had 1,470 agents with a budget under $75 million. Today, over 5,000 DEA agents have a $2 billion budget.
• Just before Nixon declared the war on drugs, a report was released on the increasing epidemic of heroin use by soldiers in Vietnam. Marijuana use in the 60s and cocaine use in the 70s and 80s were also considered issues in America.
• In 1969, 48% of Americans considered drug use to be a serious issue. In 1989, 64% of Americans saw drug abuse as a huge problem, but the following year this number plummeted to 10%.
• In 1980, there were 50,000 inmates behind bars for nonviolent, drug-related crimes, which increased to over 400,000 prisoners by 1997. Today, around 500,000 people remain behind bars on drug charges.
• The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 established mandatory prison time for some drug offenses, some of which were criticized for targeting people of color. Congress attempted to correct this with the Fair Sentencing Act in 2010.
• Over the past 40 years, the U.S. has spent over $2.5 trillion fighting the war on drugs.
• While the war on drugs has increased incarceration rates and decreased smuggling illegal drugs, the amount of drug users has increased with 19.9 million drugs users currently in America.
• The D.A.R.E. program began in 1983 to educate children on resisting drugs. By 2003 it cost $230 million dollars and employed 50,000 police officers, but never showed promising results in reducing illegal drug use.
• In the year 2012, 1.55 million Americans were arrested on nonviolent drug charges.
• The Drug War in Mexico has led to over 70,000 deaths since the year 2006.