War on drugs

Did you know that originally, the war on drugs began in June 1971 when US president Richard Nixon declared drug abuse to be “public enemy number one” and increased federal funding for drug-control agencies and drug-treatment efforts? This effort since the 1970’s was in fact greatly expanded during the Reagan administration that even led to a massive increase in incarcerations for nonviolent drug offenses, from 50,000 in 1980 to an unbelievable number of 400,000 in 1997.

In 1986, the US Congress passed the Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986 which allocated $1.7 billion to the war on drugs and established a series of mandatory minimum prison sentences for various drug offenses. The effectiveness of the war on drugs in the US eventually met a high degree of resistance after an increased awareness of racial disparity in the punishments administered, that led in turn to the decrease in public support for what Americans described as the most draconian aspects of the drug war. Reforms were even enacted, which included the legalization of recreational marijuana in an increasing number of states and the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 that reduced the discrepancy of crack-to-powder possession levels for minimum sentences from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1.

Until the 1960s, very few people knew about cocaine and the demand was limited. South American countries such as Colombia thrived on the cash viability of cocaine hydrochloride and eventually had cartels distributing the product in the US markets via air, through the Caribbean and the South Florida coast. Americans first saw crack cocaine in Miami, and it eventually spread to the cities of  Detroit, New York and Los Angeles.

Ronald Reagan’s administration prioritized the war on drugs campaign and tried very hard to end the epidemic of trafficking of crack cocaine, which was destroying many lives. A drug-free America was grounded on a deterrence theory where penalties as well as legislation sought to deter or discourage the use of illegal drugs. While the issue is no longer as hot as it was during the1980’s, the crusade against crack cocaine continues in communities around the world.

Fast forward to 2016, where former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte took under his wing the campaign against illegal drugs. Truth be told, as sheltered as I was back then, I was relatively clueless about the situation on the ground until my hairstylist, my manicurist and my butcher expressed how safe they felt going home while passing through the dark alleys that used to be plagued by sketchy drug dealers and addicts, making them fear for their lives as well as the lives of their loved ones.

It was at this point that I decided to go and plunge into the depths of Duterte’s war on drugs. As I write this column, many Filipinos seem to have spent a sleepless Wednesday night tuning in to the quad committee hearing at the House of Representatives, where the spotlight was on former president Duterte and the drug war. He was, in a nutshell, exhaustively being asked how effective he thought this campaign was, which led me to wonder about how the United States felt about theirs – literally 50 years later.

It seems that some studies say when Nixon exploited these issues in 1968, he was elected president as his policies capitalized on the public concern over the high rate of drug use, with his administration telling Congress that the matter was a real national emergency. Back to PRRD, when the ground swell on the issue seemed to have been a major factor for change , it seems to be so pertinent to public interest that a resolution, closure or even some concrete measure on the issue be finally reached.

Human rights groups here and abroad say that a more long lasting policy change that moves away from harm reduction strategies is critical, yet the drug problem that is also just as critical is prevalent, as it is both a social and health concern. Poverty, unemployment and social inequality are among the primary reasons that lure many people into the drug trade as a way to get out of economic hardship. These to me are the main issues that need to be addressed, even more so today.

While the quad committee has declared the need to “ferret out the truth” in order to seek justice and heal the nation, former president Duterte, on the other hand, also declared that his administration’s war on drugs was a success as it minimized the rampant spread of narcotics in our country. Either way, the issue on the war on drugs is an international problem and this metaphorical war represents a government’s efforts to combat illegal drugs – its consumption, distribution and production.

As for me , I can’t help but go back to what former president Duterte once said – “Your concern is human rights, my concern is human lives.” This statement still resonates today – and very strongly. In the end, it seems that a global strategic alliance might be the best approach to solving the problem of illegal drugs. Perhaps this is where we are headed. Perhaps this may be an approach worth taking by the quad committee of the House of Representatives.