Drug Policy in the United States

The incarceration rate in the United States is the highest in the world. We send more people to prison per 100,000 people than China, Iran, Syria and Zimbabwe combined. The majority of the people incarcerated, 55% as of 2004, are there for drug offenses, a symbol of America's failed "War on Drugs." In 2006, 49.3% of state prisoners were incarcerated for non-violent crimes, and as of 2008, 90.7% of federal prisoners were also non-violent offenders. The United States has only 5% of the world's population, but 23% of the world's incarcerated population. The term "War on Drugs" was first used by President Richard Nixon in 1971 after passing the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, which established the schedule system and consolidated numerous laws regarding the manufacturing and distribution of various drugs and chemicals used in production of controlled substances. In 1973, the Drug Enforcement Agency was formed to coordinate the effort of other agencies also involved in drug enforcement. 


The schedule system is very confusing if you've ever experimented with drugs yourself. The DEA and FDA decide which substances are added to or removed from the various schedules, although Congress can schedule substances through legislation. According to the DEA, Schedule I drugs must have a high potential for abuse, have no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug under medical supervision. In Schedule I, marijuana, acid, ecstasy, peyote and psychadelic mushrooms are accompanied by heroin and the date-rape drug GHB. At first glance it doesn't seem that strange, until you find that cocaine and PCP are Schedule II. Yet another inconsistency is the drug pholcodine. Pholcodine is mildly addictive drug used as a cough suppressant in lozenges and cough syrups. It was developed as a replacement to codeine, because pholcodine has a much lower potential for dependence. Why, then, is pholcodine Schedule I while codeine Schedule II? Other mild opiates used for relief from moderate pain, diarrhea and coughing such as benzylmorphine, nicocodeine, dihydrocodeinone enol acetate, tilidine, meptazinol, propiram and acetyldihydrocodeine are Schedule I, even though they have a long history of medical use. Schedule II drugs are classified by (supposedly) having a high potential for abuse, currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and abuse may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. I cannot believe that marijuana is a Schedule I while cocaine is Schedule II. Medical marijuana has been legalized in 16 states. How is it possible that the DEA and FDA believe it has no accepted medical use in treatment? I suspect lobbyists have a lot of influence in these decisions, especially when it comes to scheduling previously used medicines.

Another problem with the United States justice system is the length of prison sentences. The United States has much longer prison sentences than any other part of the world. This is caused largely by the U.S. Congress and state legislatures around the country creating mandatory sentencing for certain offenses. A first-time drug offense in a federal court is five to ten years, while the same offense in other developed countries would get six months. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 established mandatory minimums for many different drugs, including cocaine and marijuana. The real problem with this legislation is the difference in sentencing for powder cocaine and freebase cocaine. Powder cocaine users can possess up to 100 times as much of the drug as freebase, or crack, cocaine users while still falling under the same mandatory sentence. This targets low level street dealers who deal mainly in crack, which has a disproportionate effect on minorities. In 2009, Pew Research Center compiled a report on the cost of locking up so many people. According to Pew, states spent an estimated $51.7 billion on corrections in 2008 and spent $29,000 a year per inmate, while the average cost of probation and parole was $1,250 and $2,750. Mandatory sentencing should be phased out in favor of probation, which would save taxpayers billions each year.

The justice system in the United States is unfair and costly. These issues have arisen from a concerted effort from politicians to be seen as tough on crime. If a congressman or governor proposed changes in these policies, their opponents would slam them for being soft on crime. The political rhetoric in this country has yet again stymied our government's ability to solve national problems. No one wants to take on judicial reform, and no one will until the hostile rhetoric is toned down and bipartisanship reigns. I'm not holding my breath.