419 Drugs Essay Topics & Research Questions + Examples

Are you looking for a good drugs research title? You’re at the right place! StudyCorgi has prepared a list of engaging drug essay topics and questions for your project, discussion, debate, and other assignments.

💊 TOP 7 Drug Presentation Topics

🏆 best essay topics on drugs, ❓ research questions about drugs, 👍 good drugs research topics & essay examples, ✏️ topics about drugs for argumentative essay, 🌶️ hot drug topics to write about, ✍️ war on drugs essay topics, 🎓 most interesting research topics about drugs, 📌 easy drugs essay topics, 📝 engaging drug essay examples, 💡 simple drug titles for essays, 🔎 current research topics on drugs.

  • Drug Addiction: Advantages and Disadvantages
  • Drug Abuse among Teenagers Causes and Effects
  • Drug and Alcohol Abuse among Young People
  • Impacts of Drugs on the Society
  • Causes and Effects of Drug Addiction
  • Ethical and Legal Implications of Prescribing Drugs
  • Teenage Drug Addiction Problem
  • Drug Addiction in America: Effects and Solutions The problem of illegal drug use is a major health issue in the United States, it affects thousands of people, the specified concern must be handled on the level of state policies.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart: History, Founder, SWOT Analysis This paper aims to provide a full review of Shoppers Drug Mart’s internal and external operations. The author examines the history of the company and its founder, Murray Koffler.
  • Monopoly Drugs Versus Generic Drugs When a pharmaceutical company creates a new drug it may apply for and be granted a patent that is a legal protection that shelters an invention from being used, copied, or traded without permission.
  • Case Study of Drug Addiction The case study provides a platform for evaluating treatment priorities and agencies crucial for the full recovery of substance abuse patients.
  • Drug Abuse and Theories Explaining It This paper aims to examine several theories explaining drug addiction. The theories for analysis are biological, psychological, and sociological.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart Company’s Retail Networks The paper presents the analysis of business concept applications on the example of the Shoppers Drug Mart company. It suggests ways to maintain the market share of retail networks.
  • Alcohol and Drug Abuse in the Workplace Alcohol and drug abuse is one of the major causes of accidents in the workplace. Random alcohol and drug tests would discourage employees of organization from abusing alcohol or drugs.
  • The Use of Performance-Enhancing Drugs The information herein identifies particular risk factors that expose the global community to the objectionable concerns linked with the goods.
  • Social Problems Related to Alcohol and Drugs The present paper will explain the content of three articles relating to the issue of Alcohol and drug use while also providing a personal reflection on the readings.
  • Drug Legalization from the Utilitarian Perspective The focus of the paper will be mainly on marijuana use, and such utilitarian principles as the principle of utility and the felicific calculus will be primarily applied.
  • Classification of Legal and Illegal Drugs The classification of drugs as either legal or illegal provides a baseline foundation for the effect on victims and the attribute of addiction.
  • The Link Between Drug Abuse and Corruption This paper discusses that drug abuse and corruption deserve attention. It introduces causes and reasons for drug abuse and corruption.
  • Alcohol, Tobacco, and Illegal Drugs: Use Consequences Although tobacco, alcohol, and drugs cause severe physical and mental health problems and spoil a person’s social life, the image created for them contributes to harm devaluation.
  • Drug and Substance Abuse: Sociological Causes and Explanations It is normal to think that drug and substance abuse affects only consumers. However, it also affects various aspects of society.
  • Canadians’ Reaction to Alcohol as a Newly-Invented Illicit Drug The possible reaction of Canadians to alcohol, if it was a newly-invented illicit drug, will differ depending on their personal characteristics and external circumstances.
  • Causes and Consequences of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Drug addiction is a psychological and physical disorder that affects the brain of an individual. It is caused by dependence on drugs, alcohol, and specific behaviors.
  • Drug Testing in Pharmacology The aim of this paper is to analyze and review drug tests within the population of third-world countries and define whether these trials are ethical.
  • Drug Abuse Relation to the Violent Behavior Various groups of drugs greatly vary and relate to violence in different ways. Any person with heavy drug habits may act negatively and involve in violent acts punishable by law.
  • Apis Mellifica as a Homeopathic Drug for Headaches Homeopathy is one of the systems of alternative medicine. The paper investigates the effectiveness of using a homeopathic drug to address headaches.
  • Arguments For and Against Allowing Drug Use in Sports The main argument supporting the drug use in sports is that the drugs are medicines, improving the organism ability to mobilize its potential.
  • The Crisis of Drug Addiction This essay will focus on the crisis of drug addiction in general. It will also include some factors that lead to drug abuse. The paper will cover the dynamics of drug addiction in the USA.
  • Mandatory Drug Tests for Nursing Students Nursing schools have therefore tried to address this issue and one of the most commonly used tools is the mandatory drug test.
  • Drug Misuse and Its Effects on Children Health and body functioning are negatively affected, and the condition may manifest itself in drug dependence or an array of other harmful and problematic behaviors.
  • Drug Interactions Prevention in Nursing Guidelines The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed new guidelines to dictate how and when medications should be provided.
  • Adolescent Drug Abuse, Their Awareness and Prevention This essay provides a critique of an article written by Chakravarthy, Shah, and Lotfipour about adolescent drug abuse prevention interventions.
  • The Influence of Drugs and Social Media Limitless online resources are used to search for helpful information and to harass, torment anonymously, or provoke others.
  • Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation’s Retail and Services Shoppers Drug Mart pays significant attention to the development of an efficient retail network that makes the business attractive to customers.
  • Cause and Effect of Drug Addiction As a result of drug misuse, there are changes in the functioning of neurological pathways in the human brain, with the associated physical; and mental health deterioration.
  • Drug Addiction: A Choice or a Medical Disease? This article examines two opposing points of view on the problem of drug addiction – does a person have a choice to be a drug addict or is drug addiction a medical disease?
  • The Theme of Drug Abuse in Egan’s Book In her novel “A Visit from the Goon Squad”, Jennifer Egan discusses a number of problems of modern society. Among them is the problem of drug abuse.
  • Psychotherapy and Counseling for Drug Abuse Treatment Drugs are the biggest vice of humanity, along with the mental and moral deviations, horrible diseases of modern times, social neglect and abuse it causes and goes along with.
  • Victimless Crimes: Drug Abuse and Sex Work This work’s primary objective is to research and analyze victimless crimes, namely drug abuse and sex work, from the viewpoint of criminology.
  • Drug Dependency: Construction of a Rehabilitation Center Creating a program that would act as a foundation to help drug addicts recover from drug usage would help lessen drug dependency.
  • How Can Illegal Drugs Be Prevented From Entering Prison?
  • Can Economic Aid Make a Difference in the Flow of Drugs?
  • Are Novel Drugs Riskier for Patients Than Less Novel Drugs?
  • Can the Drugs Problem Be Tackled Primarily Through Legal Enforcement?
  • Do Drugs Are Barriers to Our Future?
  • Are Anabolic Steroids Really Pernicious Deleterious Drugs?
  • How Can Kids Best Be Convinced Not for Do Drugs?
  • Have Newer Cardiovascular Drugs Reduced Hospitalization?
  • Are Illegal Drugs Inferior Goods in the U.S.?
  • How Dangerous Are Drugs?
  • Are Psychotherapeutic Drugs Overprescribed for Treating Mental Illness?
  • How Dangerous Are Drugs and What Can We Do About the Drug Problem?
  • Are Drugs Taking Away the Excitement in Sports?
  • How Antidepressant Drugs Work Effect Us?
  • Does Medicaid Pay Too Much for Prescription Drugs?
  • Are Drugs More Detrimental to Educational Attainment?
  • Are Diet Drugs Are Safe for People?
  • Can Pharmacogenomics Improve Drugs Safely?
  • Does Price Reveal Poor-Quality Drugs?
  • How Are Biosimilar Drugs More Extensive Than Those of Generic?
  • Are Illegal Drugs Inferior Goods?
  • Does Previous Marijuana Use Increase the Use of Other Drugs?
  • How Are Drugs and Alcohol Affecting the Teenagers?
  • Are Any Drugs Derived From the Ocean Presently Approved?
  • Are the More Educated More Likely to Use New Drugs?
  • Does Coffee Contain Drugs?
  • Has the Time Come to Legalize Drugs?
  • How Cost-Effective Are New Cancer Drugs in the U.S.?
  • Are Adolescents With Abusive Parents at a Greater Risk of Abusing Drugs?
  • Can Production and Trafficking of Illicit Drugs Be Reduced?
  • Doctors’ Knowledge on Drug Prescription The reason why doctors have little knowledge of the drugs they prescribe is misplaced priorities during clinical trials.
  • Drug Abuse and Its Effects on Families Because of the lack of control that a substance abuse patient has over their actions, families of the people that develop chemical dependency are under constant threat.
  • Drug Addiction as Moral Failure The paper shows that drug abuse cannot be viewed as a moral failure. Kuhar’s scientific examinations made him come to that conclusion.
  • Effects of Drug Use on Society Every society encounters a variety of problems that it needs to address, and one of the most common is drug use among the population.
  • Drug Abuse and Alcohol-Related Crimes in Adolescents The current paper focuses on the topic of drug abuse and alcohol-related crimes among teenagers, showing that substances remain the most notable factor in juvenile crime.
  • Negative Effects of Drugs on Voice The essay explores the influence of drug intake on the singer’s voice and illustrate the importance of the topic for the singer’s vocal cords maintenance.
  • Drugs and Social Life in Iceland The nature of drug use in Iceland can be described as experimental — young people see something new in them and decide to try it out.
  • Pharmaceutical Industry: Drug Development Drug development is a lengthy process but rightly so since the result should be playing a curative role and not disease inducer.
  • Drug Abuse in Homeless Community The number of homeless people is continuously increasing, creating a severe threat to a country’s general well-being.
  • Why Government Needs Drug Control Policy? The use of stopping drugs trafficked to or through the US territory should be evaluated since it usually causes strained relations from the countries where the drugs originate from.
  • A Right to Experimental Drugs The question of whether patients should have access to experimental drugs for treatment is based on the ethical standards governing the protection of humans in this area.
  • Juvenile Drug Abuse Problems Analysis This essay describes the problem of juvenile drug use and applies the relevant delinquency theory. Additionally, the interventions or programs to fix the issue will be highlighted.
  • The Relationship Between Drugs and Addiction to Crime Systemic crime emerges from the arrangement of drug circulation. It includes conflicts over the region in rival drug traders, attacks, and executions committed in involved groups.
  • Drug Enforcement and War on Drugs “War on Drugs” has both positive and negative impact on criminal justice, creating certain stereotypes and putting pressure on the law enforcement agencies.
  • Performance Enhancing Drugs Legalization in Sports The question that was going to be answered through various arguments in this paper was whether these drugs should be legalized.
  • Drug Addiction and Best Treatment Practices This paper will determine the role of treatment in the recovery process and analyze the best evidence-based practices.
  • The Anti-Drug Programs in Boston The history of drug abuse across the US has been a challenge for decades. There were various anti-drug programs introduced in Boston to curb the spread of its use in the city.
  • Social Factors of Substance Drug Abuse Substance abuse refers to the pattern of continued use, despite adverse consequences. Socio determinants of substance abuse imply social factors that affect the outcome of drugs.
  • How Drugs Influence the Crimes This essay discusses five major questions about ‘Drug and Crimes’, namely, what is the extent to which the drug subculture influences criminal behavior?, etc.
  • Criminalizing Drug Usage: Effects and Consequences This paper critically examines the views that criminalization of drug use leads to greater social problems and harms individuals.
  • Mechanism of Action and Clinical Application of Antiviral Drugs Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome was first reported in 1981 by the Centers for Disease Control, with the identification of the HIV-1 as the causative agent.
  • Drug Theme in “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin In the story “Sonny’s Blues” by Baldwin, Sonny’s friend felt responsible for what was happening to Sonny because he told him that taking heroine felt great.
  • Drug Safety Approach in Administration and Nursing It is important to assess the safety of drugs prescribed to patients to detect possible side effects, inefficiency, or danger for patients.
  • Overcoming the Drug Abuse Addiction The use of narcotic drugs brings irreparable harm to health and diminishes the quality of life. Opioid abuse is a predominant problem that continues to be a concern.
  • Drugs and Substance Abuse in College: Effects and Treatments The paper will give a review of a treatment approach to drug abuse and describe the effects of substance abuse on a person who is in college.
  • The Problem of Legalizing Drugs The problem of drugs legalization is a topic for debate in many countries where politicians, sociologists, philosophers, and other experts try to address the consequences of using drugs.
  • Trade and Usage Control: Drug Enforcement Administration The paper looks into the history of the drug enforcement agency, the factors that led to its formation, its goals, and its comparison with the federal bureau of narcotics.
  • Medication Safety and Drug Therapy Process This article reviews the literature on medication safety from a global perspective. It discusses how the drug therapy process has influenced medication safety.
  • Reducing Adverse Drug Events Among Older Adults According to recent studies, one of the leading causes of severe complications is adverse drug events (ADEs) due to unaccounted drug-to-drug interactions.
  • Miami Drug Wars of the 70s and 80s Drug use is a subject that has raised controversies for decades. This paper focuses on the drug wars in Miami outlining their social, political, and economic impacts.
  • Drug Dealing on College Campuses Regardless of the attention given to the issue, the effects of drugs on students are always understated. It is typical because the entire scope of the problem is rarely understood.
  • “Should Drugs Be Legalized?” by William Bennett The war against drugs in the United States has reached a new level. Such an outcome is conditional upon the recent measures that politicians are discussing.
  • Food and Drug Administration History The paper provides a brief introduction, background, and history of the FDA and the ways in which it operates, and the practices implemented.
  • Drug Legalization: Arguments For and Against Some people would say that the U.S. should stop the war on drugs because this war caused enormous imprisonment of small-time drug dealers.
  • Drug Cartels in Mexico: Definition, Background, Mexican War on Drugs Mexican drug cartels, as one of the most powerful and well-known internationally, present the primary focus of interest in the research paper.
  • Six Stages of Change: Treatment Approaches for Drug Addiction Recovery from addiction leads to lifestyle change. Individuals whose loved ones undergo the recovery process may feel long when they have doubtful expectations.
  • Consumption of Illicit Drugs in the United States Tackling the drug problem in America requires a two-pronged strategy that focuses on the demand and supply side of the problem.
  • Drug and Alcohol Addiction Treatment Program Successful addiction treatment is comprised of three aspects, constructing the addiction treatment: body, mind, and soul.
  • The Effect of Prohibition Alcohol and Drug Use Although Prohibition reduced consumption in the initial period, it does not imply that it realized success; neither did it make the community better.
  • Drugs and Alcohol Influence on Drivers Excessive amounts of alcohol and drugs deprive the driver of conscious control over the vehicle, leading to catastrophic consequences.
  • The legalization of recreational marijuana: pros and cons.
  • Should drug users be criminalized or treated?
  • Are drug companies liable for the opioid crisis?
  • Are safe injection sites effective in preventing drug overdoses?
  • The gateway drug theory: reality or a myth?
  • Are mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses justified?
  • The impact of zero tolerance drug policies in schools.
  • The therapeutic potential of psychedelic substances.
  • Why is drug testing essential in the workplace?
  • Should drug education programs be mandatory in schools?
  • The Drug Trafficking as Organized Crime Drug trafficking is among the recently organized crimes, and it has a direct influence on the economy as it earns a lot of money.
  • The Practice of Nursing Research: Drug Round Tabards The study has several implications for hospitals and nurses involved in medication distribution. It demonstrates that the implementation of drug round tabards is worth attention.
  • Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) Assays Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) refers to the measurement of chemical or biochemical parameters in the lab to inform drug prescribing procedures.
  • Drug Release: Ethical Dilemma in Pharmaceutics A moral issue has emerged as to whether a pharmaceutical company has to release a new drug or not. This drug is thought to be an effective treatment of depression.
  • Drug Abuse in the United States’ Social Context Drug abuse is one of the problems affecting people in the United States. Society has contributed to the continued misuse of drugs today, through bad parenting or the environment.
  • Regulation of Drug Compounding Drug compounding is necessary in exceptional cases where a patient may not use drugs approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
  • “Addicts Who Survived” by David Courtwright: Crucial Work on Drug Addiction The purpose of this paper is to identify the main issues raised by David Courtwright and to discuss the content of the book “Addicts Who Survived”.
  • Research Drug Safety Approaches Adverse effects of drugs implemented in certain treatment and care plans began to be noted a long time ago by health care specialists and scientists.
  • Nurse Misconduct and Drug Diversion as Legal Issue The paper analyzes the case of nurse misconduct associated with drug diversion and identifies improvement strategies to avoid the problem in the future.
  • Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking Offenders This paper discusses organized crime and drug trafficking, as well as the legal rights of the convicted and the relationships between the offenses.
  • Brain Gain: The Underground World of Neuroenhancing Drugs In “Brain Gain: The Underground World of Neuroenhancing Drugs” published in The New Yorker, Talbot describes the harsh reality of young people in academia who take off-label drugs to keep up with their hectic schedules.
  • War on Drugs Through a Socio-Political Framework Drug addiction is a problem that concerns not only the health of particular members of society suffering from this disease but also the country as a whole.
  • Drug Use and Heroin Addiction: Informative Speech The illegality of drugs makes it impossible to research the actual numbers of people using drugs and situations making these persons initiate drug abuse and harm their health.
  • Eli Lilly and Company: Drug Firm Analysis Eli Lilly and Company is an American drug firm whose head office is situated in Indianapolis. Eli Lilly and Company cares about its clientele by monitoring the benefits and risks of its drugs.
  • Nurse Practitioner as a Drug Prescriber Nurse Practitioners have a plethora of professional duties in their schedules that they are obliged to follow. This paper presents issues of a nurse practitioner as a prescriber.
  • Drug Addiction among Nurses The United States of America has one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Drug abuse among nurses is a serious problem that threatens the quality care that is offered.
  • Drug Dependency and Behavioral Addictions Drug dependency is often described as a chronic brain condition that causes the patient to seek out drug substances without control or consideration for their negative effects.
  • Adverse Drug Events and Nurses’ Awareness Adverse drug events (ADE) are associated with unplanned hospital admissions, patient dissatisfaction, a financial burden on the US healthcare system, and even high mortality rate.
  • Drug Courts Policy and Its Evaluation Drug courts mark a considerable approach in the struggle to combat drugs. This paper gives a clear description and analysis of the drug court program since the 1980s.
  • Illegal Drug Use in Nurses: Discussion There are reasons why nurses are at risk of developing a drug addiction, which means that there is a high chance for practitioners to work with nurses who illegally use drugs.
  • Drug Abuse and Its Impact on Creativity The boosting effect of drugs on creativity is a myth because changes in thinking are a brain reaction to a narcotic that is temporary yet severe.
  • Drug Errors: Enhancing Care Quality and Safety Though numerous new technologies have been developed to improve healthcare delivery, drug errors continue to be an issue in the United States.
  • Public Policies Related to Drug Addiction Public policies related to drug addiction need to be enforced in a compassionate manner that pays attention to the unique needs of American society.
  • Drugs: Myths and Misconceptions Starting from the very beginning of the twentieth century and ending even today, drugs as a topic have been surrounded by a mass of myths and misconceptions.
  • Psychotropic Drugs Usage, Effects, Consequences Numerous aspects determine the effectiveness of drug therapy with psychotropic medication, for example, the appropriateness of the choice of pills for the disease.
  • Drug Misuse, Abuse, and Their Factors Addiction is a recurrent, chronic disorder characterized by compulsive substance seeking and use despite harmful consequences.
  • National Association for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors This paper will consider the fourth principle of the organization’s ethical code, which reads: “Working in a culturally diverse world.”
  • Analysis of Drug Classification The article argues drug reactions depend considerably on patients and administration methods, that’s why employees must know the basics of drug classification.
  • Patient Rights to Experimental Drugs The paper discusses why patients should have the right to decide if they would like to use drugs that have not been proven effective when there are no other treatment options.
  • The Role of Forensics in the War on Drugs This essay looks at chemicals that are used by forensic experts and the role forensics play in the war on drugs.
  • The Effects of Drugs on a Man’s Reproductive System In this article, the author examines the reasons why drug and alcohol abuse negatively affects the reproductive health of men.
  • Carl Hart’s Talk on Racism, Poverty, and Drugs In his TED Talk, Carl Hart, a professor of neuroscience at Columbia University who studies drug addiction, exposes a relationship between racism, poverty, and drugs.
  • Legalization of Marijuana and Other Illegal Drugs The essay relates both the pros and cons of legalizing drugs, but since there is a solid argument for both sides, a conclusion cannot be reached unless more research is conducted.
  • Legalization of Marijuana: The Pros and Cons of the Drug From an evaluation of the pros and cons listed in the paper, it is clear that marijuana holds more harm than the risk to society.
  • Drugs in Perspective: Models of Addiction The moral model of addiction is a notion that has very little in common with biological or genetic components of addiction. The disease model of addiction is a lifelong addiction.
  • Drugs and Drug Related Crimes Obviously the current strategy of the government isn’t working and it is backfiring. The government needs to do something new.
  • Criminal Justice System: Drugs and Crime The main objective of the criminal justice system is ensuring delivery of justice for all. It mainly concentrates in detection of crime.
  • Pharmacology: Drug Licensing Opportunity Obtaining a license for a new drug is a very costly and time consuming affair. Any pharmaceutical company would have to weigh all its options before embarking on such a process.
  • Drug Abuse Case: Jenny G This paper present the case of drug abuse. Jenny G., a 48-year-old recovering IV drug abuser, presents with general malaise, anorexia, abdominal pain, and slight jaundice.
  • Fear Appeal in Anti-Drug Abuse Public Campaign The problem of prescription drug abuse has become a crucial concern for Florida residents. The public campaign proposes raising awareness about the dangers of prescription drugs.
  • The war on drugs: the causes of its failures.
  • The impact of the war on drugs on minorities.
  • The link between the war on drugs and mass incarceration.
  • Alternatives to the war on drugs.
  • The war on drugs and human rights violations.
  • The economic costs of the war on drugs.
  • The effects of the war on drugs on drug prices and availability.
  • The impact of drug prohibition on drug use patterns.
  • The influence of the war on drugs on drug-producing countries.
  • Unintended adverse effects of the war on drugs.
  • Mandatory Drug Testing for Welfare Recipients Mandatory drug testing should be implemented in the US to ensure that taxpayer money is allocated to the assistance of socially and economically disadvantaged persons.
  • The Drug Enforcement Administration Business Model This paper evaluates the business canvas of the Drug Enforcement Administration and provides recommendations for the improvement of cooperation with partners.
  • Drugs and Jazz in James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” In his short story Sonny’s Blues, James Baldwin uses drugs and jazz music as both literal concepts and metaphorical images to portray the suffering of African Americans.
  • Crisis of Chemical Dependence: Drug Abuse Drug abuse mainly begins during teenage. The first part of this essay discusses social and cultural determinants of substance abuse. The second part focuses on the dynamics of addiction.
  • The Phenomenon of The Use of Prescription Drugs The need to have a prescription before the drugs are acquired is usually applied in order to prevent illegal distribution, and effective use of such medicine.
  • The Issue of Misuse of Prescription Drugs The paper discusses the growing problem of prescription drug abuse in the United States, its consequences such as addiction and overdose, and possible solutions.
  • Drug Abuse During Pregnancy: Policy Options Heated discussions on whether or not drug abuse during pregnancy should be illegal due to the potential risks to the developing fetus or child persist.
  • Disclosure and Nondisclosure in Drugs Prescription The case focuses on the ethical and legal implications of prescribing new medication currently in the development stage for a child under the age of 12.
  • Leadership in Drug Abuse Program Development Within the context of a potential intervention for drug abuse, the roles and competencies of leaders are the primary emphasis of this paper.
  • Drugs and Violence Go Hand in Hand From the point of view of American researchers, substance abuse increases the chances of subjects being drawn into conflict relationships.
  • Alcohol in the Drugs and Behavior Context It is no secret that alcohol and human health are incompatible things. The most significant influence of alcohol falls on the cerebral cortex.
  • Alcohol and Drug Foundation’s Public Relations The campaign conducted by Alcohol and Drug Foundation is a vivid example of how the theories and practices of PR can help alter people’s behavior.
  • Illegal Drugs: Types and Influences Illegal drugs include substances that affect the body and the brain of a person. They are divided into several groups, depending on the method of use and the impact on the brain.
  • Drug Addiction: A Disease or a Choice? Drug addiction remains a serious health concern for contemporary society. The problem of whether drug addiction can be viewed as a disease or a choice remains topical.
  • Wellbutrin and Lexapro: Drugs Affecting Neurotransmitters Wellbutrin and Lexapro are effective drugs in the fight against depressive disorder. However, the drugs are addictive.
  • Drugs and Behavior: History of Alcohol in America The ordinary colonial American drank roughly twice as much alcohol in 1770 as it does today—about three and a half gallons annually.
  • Incretin Mimetic Drugs for Type 2 Diabetes In patients with type 2 diabetes, there is a significant decrease in the incretin effect and a decrease in insulin secretion in response to an oral load.
  • Drug Addiction: The Brain Disease Drug addiction acts similarly to neurological diseases. Substances directly affected the brain, with addiction being the most acute phase of substance use disorder.
  • Random Drug Testing at the Workplace Employees in law enforcement, public health and safety, and national security should all be subjected to random drug testing.
  • Drug Repurposing in Cancer Treatment This article examines the concept of drug repurposing in the context of pharmaceutical companies’ innovation policy: the methods and economic feasibility of repurposing drugs.
  • Ethics of Using Experimental Drugs It is necessary to examine whether terminal patients have a moral right to the experimental treatment and suggest possible outcomes for this type of cure.
  • Economic Evaluation: Prevention of Suicide and Drug Overdose The economic evaluation of the provided scenario was conducted in four dimensions: cost-of-illness, programmatic, benefit-cost, and cost-effectiveness analyses.
  • The War on Drugs in the United States The United States government’s combat with substance abuse is called the “War on Drugs,” addressing the campaign initiated by President Nixon.
  • Zero Discrimination for People Who Use Drugs From all of the above, it follows that HIV-infected prisoners should have the same access to timely and high-quality medical care as the population.
  • The Drug Abuse Problem in Indiana Drug usage is one of Indiana’s most serious societal problems, affecting the state’s health, economy, behavioral, and criminal elements.
  • The Effect of an Antimicrobial Drug on Gene Expression This paper critically evaluates methods and techniques that can be used to assess the effect of an antimicrobial drug on global gene expression.
  • Sexually Transmitted Diseases Transmission Involving Drug Use Preventive techniques need to target drug addicts and sex workers to combat the STD epidemic and offer interventions to reduce risky sexual behaviors and drug use.
  • The Problems of Drug Misuse and Abuse and Their Management This research aims to determine the best ways to prescript drugs, the importance of drug interactions, and the potential dangers of drug abuse.
  • Drug Prescription Issues and Abuse This paper aims to determine the best ways to prescript drugs, the importance of drug interactions, and the potential dangers of drug abuse.
  • History of Drug Use in Incarceration The history of drug use in prisons go beyond 2008 with some documents indicating a steady rise in drug use between 1980 and 2008.
  • Rohypnol and Illegal Drugs in Clinical Trials The current paper discusses Rohypnol. It is a generic drug known as flunitrazepam which contains lorazepam, diazepam, and alprazolam.
  • Media Misinformation About Drug Use The United States is one of the countries with the strictest policies, rules, and regulations against the peddling and abuse of illicit drugs.
  • A Spontaneous Reporting System for Drug Safety Surveillance Post-marketing in clinical trials uses a spontaneous reporting system for drug safety surveillance where potential AEs induced by the drugs are detected.
  • The Influence of Drugs and Alcohol on Date Rape While drugs can affect mental health and make the victim forget everything, the perpetrators indulge in alcohol abuse to escape the blame and deny non-consensual sex.
  • Drug Abuse Demographics in Prisons Drug abuse, including alcohol, is a big problem for the people contained in prisons, both in the United States and worldwide.
  • Drug-Resistant Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Strains As with any other infectious disease, TB exhibits specific signs and symptoms that help distinguish it from other illnesses.
  • Correlation of HIV, AIDS in White Males Who Are Injection Drug Users The testable hypothesis for this work states that socioeconomic status is correlated with HIV/AIDS in white males who are injection drug users.
  • Assessment and Therapeutic Approaches for Drug Addiction Clients The paper uses various drug addiction assessment methods to examine the severity, give clinicians insight into the problem and assist in psychotherapy.
  • COVID-19 Epidemic and Alcohol and Drug Addiction The sudden life changes during the COVID-19 epidemic make it difficult for people who suffer from alcohol and drug dependence to fight their addictions.
  • High-Level Drug Trafficking in Australia Media articles explain the problem of narcotics trafficking across the Australian border. Australia is an effective participant in international drug trafficking organizations.
  • Drug Addiction and Stigmatization
  • Drug Addiction: Analysis of Goeders and Guerin Research
  • COVID-19 and Drugs at Schools as Public Health Issues
  • Drugs for Neglected Disease Initiative
  • Drug Abuse at the Workplace and a Policy to Address It
  • Act Liability for Price-Fixing of Generic Drugs
  • The Emergence of Drug-Resistant Pathogens
  • Non-Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports
  • Forensic Drug Analysis Course: Reflection
  • The Adverse Consequences of Substance Use Tool and the Psychoactive Drug History
  • Vaccine and Antiviral Drug Supply and Distribution Problem
  • Drug Addiction Treatment & Benchmark Program
  • The Mexican Drug War and “Queen of the South”
  • Improving Drug Administration in Healthcare Facility
  • Decriminalizing the Simple Possession of Illegal Drugs
  • Law Enforcement of Drug Business on the Demand Side
  • Evaluating Harm Reduction Program for Drug Users
  • Effects of the War on Drugs on Latinos in the US and the Role of Stereotypes
  • The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Globalization
  • Types of Drugs and Types of Domestic Abuse Correlation
  • Drug Production During Crisis: The Case of COVID-19
  • High U.S. Drug Prices: Health Policy Log
  • Why Adolescents Take Drugs: Human Development
  • Prescription Drug Abuse Problem
  • War on Drugs: Causes and Problems
  • Drug War in Border Cities: Causes and Consequences
  • Court Decisions on Drug Offenders
  • Drug Use and Addiction Correlations
  • Support for the Legalization of the Drug Consumption
  • Analysis of Drugs in American Society by E. Goode
  • Male Health Drugs:Overview and Effects
  • Alcohol and Other Drug Use Among the Aboriginal and Torres Islander People
  • Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986: Crack vs. Cocaine Sentencing Disparity
  • Escalating Drug Prices: Solution to the Problem
  • How Liquid Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry is Used in Drug Screening
  • Random Drug Testing: Pros and Cons
  • Drugs in the Modern Sports
  • Drug Issues in Watertown, New York
  • Accessory Plus Incorporated’s Drug Abuse Case
  • Racism, Racial Profiling and Bias in the War on Drugs
  • Children Insecurity in the Context of Mother’s Drug Misuse
  • Variables That Impact Sentencing Decision of Judges in Drug Offender Cases
  • The Effectiveness of Drugs in Medicine
  • Drug Trafficking and Terrorism in the Middle East
  • Drugs and Crime Committed Under the Influence
  • Combating the Local Drug Distribution in Missouri
  • Colombian and Mexican Drug Cartels and Their Impact in the U.S.
  • Prescription Drug Abuse as a Community Health Issue
  • Crime Trends: Drug Abuse in Adults and Juveniles
  • Substance Abuse: Alcohol and Drugs in the Movie “Ray”
  • “Addicts Who Survived” by David Courtwright: American Addiction to Narcotics Problem and Anti-drug Policies
  • The Interrelationship Among a Bacterial Pathogen and Antimicrobial Drugs
  • Should All or Certain Drugs Be Legalized?
  • Drug Abuse in Correction Facilities
  • Distribution of Fake Drugs: Analysis of a Criminal Case
  • Reducing the Number of Adverse Drug Events Among Older Adults: An Action Plan
  • A Study of Drug Allergy, Iron Poisoning and Abnormal Bone Mineral Metabolism
  • Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act Amendment
  • Schizophrenia Treatment With Approved Drug
  • Drugs and Crime Description: Federal Drug Statutes
  • Patients Receiving Antipsychotic Drugs: Neuroleptic Syndrome
  • The U.S. Drug Prices Assessment
  • The Drug Courts: The Question of Drug Abuse
  • Judicial Process in Drug Offender Cases: Research Design
  • Drugs for Treating Schizophrenia and Mood Disorders
  • The Importation of Drugs into the United States
  • Drug Courts and Criminal Courts Compared
  • Americcan College of Radiology Protocol and Cancer Therapy Response to Antiangiogenetic Drug
  • Community Health: Prescription Drug Abuse
  • The Concept of the “War on Drugs”
  • Two Acts on Drug Law Comparison
  • Quality Patient Care: Drug Errors and Nurses
  • Drug Addiction: Elimination of Incarcerations
  • Health Issue Analysis: Prescription Drug Abuse
  • Juveniles and Drugs in the US
  • The Control the Availability of Illicit Drugs
  • War on Drugs: Fighting the Way We Are Not Likely to Win
  • Pharmacogenomics Impact on Individual Drug Effectiveness
  • Drug Use and Biological Development in Adolescents
  • Reality in Drug Addiction Research: Ethnography
  • The Drug Abuse in the U.S. Navy: The Problem Analysis
  • The High Cost of Specialty Drugs
  • Overmedication of Children With Psychotropic Drugs
  • Misguided Perception of Drug Addiction
  • Drug Testing Problem Reflection
  • International Drug Policy in Russia and the US
  • OxyContin as a Legitimate Drug and a Drug of Abuse
  • Drug Trade. “Crack” Book by David Farber
  • Combating the Local Drug Distribution
  • Drug Abuse Factors: Substance Use Disorder
  • Prescription Drug Cost Transparency
  • Effects of Drugs on the State of Consciousness
  • Response to a Journal Article on Drug Control Policy
  • Ilaris(R)-Drug Usage in U.S. and Australia
  • The Problem of Increased Morbidity From Adverse Drug Events in Older Adults
  • Drug Abuse and Addiction: Risk Factors
  • Bacterial Cells and Chemotherapeutic Drugs
  • Detention of a Minor While Using Drugs
  • The Relations Between Drug Abuse and Criminal Justice
  • Cocaine as a Drug Chosen for Medical Research
  • Drug and Alcohol Abuse in Organizations
  • Specialty Drugs Costs and Insurance
  • Drug Abuse: Impaired American Society
  • The Issue of Drug Abuse in the Community of Kinsburg
  • Caffeine and Performance of Drugs in Adolescents
  • Adolescent Drug Abuse: Diagnosis and Cultural Awareness
  • Support Services and the Case Review: Drug and Alcohol Addiction
  • Health Reform Bill on Drugs in the United States
  • Research Design for a New Drug That Reduces Appetite
  • The Money Factor in Drug and Alcohol Treatment
  • The Problem of Prescription Drug Abuse in the United States
  • Performance Enhancing Drugs and the Student Athletes
  • Clandestine Drug Laboratory Dangers
  • Drug Use, Dealing and Violence
  • Global Trends Affecting a Local Drug and Alcohol Rehab Centers
  • Drugs to Wipe Out Traumatic Memories
  • Mexican Drug Cartels: A Transnational Threat
  • Information Technology and Mexican Drug Cartels
  • Investigating the Issue of Drug Trafficking Through the Points
  • Profession of US Drug Enforcement Agent
  • Random Drug Test on College Athletes
  • Drugs and Society Violent Crime: Public Drunkenness
  • Opioid Drug Regulation: Legislative Letter
  • American Prohibition and the War Against Drugs
  • Drug Abuse and Drug Addiction and Various Policies Related to Drugs
  • Drug Abuse and Crime Correlation
  • Mandatory Job Drug Test Should Be Allowed
  • Drug Addiction: The Problem of Xanax Abuse and Its Consequences
  • Physical Privacy and Drug Testing
  • Sports Violations: Drug Use in Baseball
  • Anti-Drugs, Alcohol and Tobacco Education Programs
  • “Blood for Sale” and “Drug Dilemmas”: Articles Reviews
  • Legalizing Drugs, an Irrational and Harmful Choice
  • Drug Abuse Among Teenagers
  • Mifepristone Drug: To Approve or to Disapprove?
  • Criminal Justice Ethics: Police Corruption & Drug Sales
  • Prescribed Drugs With Complementary and Alternative Medicines
  • Current Sources of Evidence-Based Standards and Guidelines for Prescribing Psychiatric Drugs
  • Drug Addiction Is a Chronic Disease
  • Drug Trafficking: Investigation on Frank Lucas
  • Law: Drug Treatment and Testing Orders
  • Drug Use in the Workplace: The Case of Acme-Antiroadrunner Inc.
  • Violence in the 20th-Century Latin America: Colombian Drug Wars, Dictatorship in Chile, and Undiscovered Personal Tragedies
  • E-Prescribing Drug Technology in the Healthcare
  • Computerized Provider Order Entry Against Drug Errors
  • Drug Monitoring and Florida’s State Strategies
  • Drug Prescription Policy Analysis
  • Prescription Drug Misuse in Elderly Patients
  • Improper Drug Administration as a Nursing Practice Issue
  • Food and Drug Administration – Regulatory Agency
  • Soderbergh’s Traffic and the U.S. War on Drugs
  • Public Policy Meeting: Prescription Drug Supply and Cost
  • Health Policy: 340B Drug Pricing Program
  • Drug-Dealing Organizations in Latin American Politics
  • Drugs and Society: Drug Use and Its Impact on Culture and Society
  • Random Drug Testing in Schools
  • Psychoactive Drugs, Society, and Human Behaviour
  • Black Theology and Its Impact on Drug Addiction
  • Drug and Alcohol Abuse Treatment Effectiveness
  • Drug Trafficking Reduction in the United States
  • Undercover Police Investigations in Drug-Related Crimes
  • “Adolescent Alcoholism and Drug Addiction” by Choate
  • Behind the War on Drugs
  • Drug Test on Welfare Recipients
  • Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Aspirin
  • Drug Abuse Treatment in Nursing
  • Pramlintide as Anti-Diabetic Drug
  • Antiseizure Medications and Antipsychotic Drugs
  • Addressing the Growing Cost of the Prescription Drugs
  • Pharmacy and Policy: Inappropriate Prescription of Drugs
  • Teenage Drug and Substance Abuse
  • Drug Abuse Among Homeless People in Miami
  • The Problem of Drug Use and Heroin Addiction in US
  • Using Free and Secure Trade to Smuggle Drugs
  • Food and Drug Administration Fast-Track Approval
  • Computerized Entry of Drug Prescribing Order
  • Healthcare Financing and Drug Addiction
  • Ethics of Abortion and Over-the-Counter Drugs
  • Drug Therapy: Nicotine Interference with Contraceptives
  • Drugs Comparison: Montelukast, Flovent and Albuterol
  • Prescription Drug Use in the United States
  • Drug Safety Approach in Advanced Nursing Practice
  • Drug Abuse, HIV/AIDS, and Songs on Social Issues
  • Drug War Failure and Associated Problems
  • Adverse Drug Events: Evidence-Based Project
  • Miami-Dade Community Needs: Alcohol and Drug Addiction
  • Can Hospitals Manufacture Drugs in the US?
  • Prescription Drugs Prices and Services in Florida
  • Female Drug Abuser’s Recovery Care Plan
  • Nonmedical Use of Drugs and Negative Sexual Events
  • The War on Drugs and the Corrections System
  • Drug-Drug and Food-Drug Interactions
  • Casinos: Occupational Safety and Drug-Free Workplace
  • Drug War’s Impact on the US Correction System
  • American Drug War and Its Ineffectiveness
  • How Mexico Drug Cartels Are Supporting Conflicts?
  • Sentencing Policies on Drug Offences
  • Drug Dealing Reasons in East Harlem, New York City
  • American Great Wall to Reduce the Number of Illegal Immigrants and Illegal Drugs
  • Analysis of Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis: Characteristics, Treatment and Prevention
  • Illicit Drug Use Among American Youths
  • Minimizing Prescription Drug Abuse in Oklahoma
  • Performance Enhancing Drugs and Professional Sport
  • Sociology: Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Problem
  • Drugs and Prison Overcrowding
  • Drug’s, Poverty’s and Beauty’s Effects on Health

This article has covered:

Cite this post

  • Chicago (N-B)
  • Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2021, September 9). 419 Drugs Essay Topics & Research Questions + Examples. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/drugs-essay-topics/

"419 Drugs Essay Topics & Research Questions + Examples." StudyCorgi , 9 Sept. 2021, studycorgi.com/ideas/drugs-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . (2021) '419 Drugs Essay Topics & Research Questions + Examples'. 9 September.

1. StudyCorgi . "419 Drugs Essay Topics & Research Questions + Examples." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/drugs-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "419 Drugs Essay Topics & Research Questions + Examples." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/drugs-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "419 Drugs Essay Topics & Research Questions + Examples." September 9, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/drugs-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Drugs were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 22, 2024 .

War On Drugs Essays (Examples)

Studyspark

War On Drugs

ACLU (2020). Against drug prohibition. Retrieved from:   https://www.aclu.org/other/against-drug-prohibition  " target="_blank" REL="NOFOLLOW">

Effectiveness Of The War On Drugs

Fbi drugs and wmds.

Manchikanti, Laxmaiah, Jaya Sanapati, Ramsin M. Benyamin, Sairam Atluri, Alan D. Kaye, and Joshua A. Hirsch. "Reframing the prevention strategies of the opioid crisis: focusing on prescription opioids, fentanyl, and heroin epidemic." Pain physician 21, no. 4 (2018): 309-326.

Pablo Escobar

Teenage health vulnerabilities with substance abuse us.

Youth.gov. (2019). Substance abuse agencies. Retrieved from   https://youth.gov/youth-topics/substance-abuse/prevalence-substance-use-abuse-and-dependence  .

The US Sentencing System Disparities And Discrimination

Race and incarceration rates.

Plessy v. Ferguson. 1896. Retrieved July 30, 2019 (  https://www.oyez.org/cases/1850-1900/163us537  ).

The Rise Of The Opium Trade In Afghanistan Following The US Invasion

Kiras, J. D. (2002). Terrorism and Irregular Warfare, in John Baylis, James Wirtz, Eliot Cohen and Colin Gray eds., Strategy in the Contemporary World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 208–232.

Counterterrorism Strategy For The Next U S Presidential Administration

Related topics.

  • War On Terror

Category Topics

  • Central Intelligence Agency
  • International Relations
  • Gun Control
  • Global Financial Crisis
  • Free Speech
  • Health Department
  • Crisis Intervention
  • Prison System
  • Sarbanes Oxley Act
  • Public Service

Improve your studying and writing skills

We have over 150,000+ study documents to help you.

Join thousands of other students and

"spark your studies"..

Study Guides

Writing Guides

Studying / Writing Tools

Customer Service

Your customer service team resolved my issue in minutes!

Studyspark

Study Spark - providing your mind the spark it needs to help improve your grades.

©2020 Study Spark LLC.

Studyspark.com uses cookies to offer our users the best experience. By continuing, you are agreeing to receive cookies. Privacy Policy

War On Drugs - Free Essay Samples And Topic Ideas

Writing argumentative essays on War on Drugs is pretty challenging as it unleashes the current problem of modern society in America. It requires thorough research of lots of data to introduce the relevant paper. This is a broad matter which can be split into different essay topics. For example, you can raise the issue of drug trafficking or provide arguments on the harmful effects of abused drug consumption. Also, you can touch on the engagement of the government in fighting against illegal drug use, current drug prohibition rights, etc.

There are so many ideas to include in your research paper, yet it is difficult to streamline your thoughts. That is why essay examples on War on Drugs are good options. They can help you compile an outline where the introduction, main body, and conclusion are the key parts. It is essential to stick to one topic and articulate it in one thesis statement and notice it in the introductory part. Then, you need to expand the topic by providing particular arguments and proof, so then to conclude with your thesis. We recommend you get familiar with essay examples on drugs on our platform. They might be a good prompt for you to define your topic and research path.

War on Drugs and Mass Incarceration

The purpose of the law is to maintain societal order, while the criminal justice system operates to bring justice to the commission of crimes. In the United States, however, modern day criminal justice systems disproportionately disadvantage particular groups of people and undermine the intended functionality of law enforcement structures. This phenomenon of racial minority overrepresentation and overall prison population surge has endured since the 1970s. The declaration of the 70s "War on Drugs" was proceeded with mandatory minimum, amplified sentencing […]

The Negative Impacts of the War on Drugs

 Attention-getter: According to the Center for American Progress, 63,600 people died of a drug overdose in 2016 (Pearl). There is a serious drug problem in America. Reason to listen: With an election coming up in a couple weeks, and more on the national level in the coming years, people can choose to vote for politicians devoted to undoing many years of wrong doing. Thesis Statement: The War on Drugs has been a failure. For decades it has unfairly imprisoned people […]

Mass Incarceration in America

When we think of America we recall a tale told of the land of the free. where justice and liberty reign supreme. The United States has a population just a shade higher than 300 million, a mere 4% of the world's population. However, we house 22% of the prisoners in the world. The prison system in America has some major flaws however we turn a blind eye towards it. How did a nation built on the ideals of freedom, ironically […]

We will write an essay sample crafted to your needs.

Performance-Enhancing Drugs: the War on Drugs

Many people look up to athletes, making them their role models in lots of ways. Athletes have the skills, speed, strength, and glory that people admire. What many supporters do not know is that there is a possibility that the traits which make their favorite athletes great, could be a result of the use of steroids. If a majority of athletes use already take steroids, should performance-enhancing drugs be accepted in sports? This essay explains why many athletes decide to […]

The History of Drugs and the War on Drugs

A drug is a substance which has physiological effects when administered to the body. Drugs come in various shapes and forms such as lozenges, tablets, aerosols, and syrups to name a few. There are five ways a drug can be administered into the body. The routes of administration are oral, sublingual, rectal, topical, and parenteral (intravenous, intramuscular, and subcutaneous.) There are seven drug types and each come with different effects and risks. They are stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, dissociatives, opioids, inhalants, […]

An Effect of Mass Incarceration

It is no surprise that the United States has a major issue with the incarceration of its people. In fact, the U.S. incarcerates more people, per capita, than any other country in the world, 714 in 100,000 people, or about 3.5 for every 500. We lock up more than 4 times the people than the United Kingdom [1]. When considering what leads people to prison two main components come to mind: crime and drugs. Crime is the most diverse and […]

The War on Drugs: Explained

Abstract The research conducted, was a general view of gathering information on the significance of what drugs consumption and possession has on the general society. Sharing the overall history and importance of drug prevention in America and what are laws and regulations in place in containing drugs in the streets. In addition, sharing what the criminal justice system done to aid those in prevention on recidivism. After thorough research, the number of those who suffer victim to personal encounters in […]

The Global War on Drugs

The War on Drugs started in June 1971 when US president Richard Nixon announced drug abuse to be 'public's big enemy' and raised federal funding for drug-control agencies and drug treatment efforts.The War on Drugs is a term used to refer to a government-led initiative that aims to stop illegal drug use, distribution and trade according to the article written by A&E. (A&E) In this short essay I will be discussing many points that deal with the war on drugs […]

America’s Mass Incarceration Problem

In February of 2018, President Donald Trump released the Trump Administration's fiscal budget for 2019. The budget was predictably set on what President Trump had mentioned what he found most important; there was a substantial increase in defense spending, ICE and border control, and infrastructure, as well as a decrease in Medicare and Environmental Protection. One of his more notable budget increases stands out, however: an increase in programs that are often associated with the infamous, ongoing "War on Drugs". […]

Legalization or War on Drugs

 Drug preclusion channels over $140 billion per year into the criminal black market. Its disallowance drove respectable organizations into organised crimes or bankrupt by and large, which prepared for mobsters to make millions through the underground market. Also, by Legalizing drugs cultivation tremendous assets spent by governments executing or detaining individuals is reduced. This could help disarm countries and stop the harm done to families whose members are murdered or detained for moving, developing and disseminating drugs and its items. […]

The War on Drugs in the Sports Industry

On April 13th, 2018, the National Basketball Association suspended Washington Wizards’ player Jodie Meeks. Meeks tested positive for Ipamorelin and growth-hormone-releasing peptide-2. Both of these substances are banned by the NBA. In the past year, five NBA players have been suspended for violating the league’s anti-drug policy. The NBA has a very specific policy applying to drugs and any violation of this results in the immediate suspension of the respective player if some type of banned substance is found in […]

The Age of Mass Incarceration

When we typically think of crime and punishment we view it as a "conveyor belt" of justice: Usually the guilty are found guilty and sentenced to either long or short imprisonment terms depending on the crime committed. For some criminals the belt continues to move in a constant cycle from time of arrest, appearance before a judge, trial, the start of their punishment and finally the end of imprisonment, assuming that some go on to probation or are simply set […]

The War on Drugs and its Impact on the United States

Illegal drugs have been a very prevalent issue in the United States for decades, with almost no clear solution to stop the spreading and use of them. With the epidemic of opium currently ravaging the U.S, it all stemmed from a colossal failure in the 1980s: The War on Drugs. While the intent of the War on Drugs was to stop the spreading of illegal drugs, it managed to become more negative for America than it was originally intended. The […]

Opinion about War on Drugs

The War on Drugs began in the 20th Century and aimed to address the marijuana and opioid epidemic that plagued the United States. The War on Drugs, declared in the 1970s by President Richard Nixon, primarily targeted nonviolent drug offenders and resulted in unprecedented growth of the U.S. penal system and has been criticized for creating a “new Jim Crow” in which incarcerated people of color are targeted for arrest, and put into jails where they work for free or […]

War on Drugs | History

Abstract The War on Drugs, or prohibition of illicit substance abuse, has been a long and grueling legislative approach that has changed the rhetoric and the foundation of our American ideals regarding substance abuse. As currently defined, illicit substance use encompasses the “cultivation, distribution, and possession of many intoxicating substances that are intended solely for recreational use” (Durrant & Thakker, 2003; Sacco, 2014). Through Karger and Stoesz (2018) four-pronged model, it is important to note the societal turmoil that was […]

War on Drugs Among Teens

In 2003, Danielson, Overholser, and Butt undertook a study on the larger discipline of teenage depression and the use of drugs. The study was aimed at evaluating whether or not levels of depression differ in the adolescents who had shown attempts to commit suicide and those who had not as influenced by their use of alcohol. From the clinical perspectives, the researchers appreciated that alcohol use among adolescents could significantly influence levels of depression. The higher the level of alcohol […]

Rethinking the Drugs Policy

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (2017) reported that the United States requests $27.8 billion on prevention, treatment, domestic law enforcement, interdiction and international operation to addressing the drug problem. Furthermore about $9.2 billion Federal resources are directly related to support domestic law enforcement efforts. The legalization of drug as a policy option for curtailing drug abuse is increasingly worth serious consideration. In addition, drug prohibition’s limited capability could lead to severe adverse effect regardless of how harmful the […]

War on Drugs is a Struggle to Survive

I was taught that tobacco was bad. My father died from an overdose. I never met my dad but I never understood why someone would be a drug addict. I never knew how they could do it to themselves, their friends, their family. I would always think a addict was somebody who was selfish and weak. A person who just wanted to party and didn’t care about anyone or anything .I used to think that an addict deserved what had […]

Drug Abuse: War on Drugs

Drug abuse has been happening over so many years and it’s bad for our community. A drug isn't a good thing to mess with it understandable if its used for reasonable reasons but more than needed is drug abuse. Some people disagree with this and opposed to other side drugs are good for our community. Many people coming back from the war will be addicted to drugs and alcohol due to the massage amount of drugs that is given to […]

War on Drugs: America’s Longstanding Relationship with Substance Abuse

In America, there are many factors that influence how we as a society interpret the world around us and what may unequivocally or indirectly impact our everyday behaviors and cognitive processes. We do not merely live day by day free from any conflict or mitigating circumstances; instead we are surrounded by a host of issues that shape the world in which we live in. There is often a blurred line between political and social issues in America, as issues seem […]

The Significance of Public Health: the War on Drugs

When the notion of the “War on Drugs” was first instituted to rid the United States of illegal drug use, many thought it would bring an end to drugs and reduce criminal activity, but that wasn’t the case as the fight to end drug use failed to meet its goal. It impacted many people in the process, specifically public health. According to the American Journal of Public Health, the common effects of drugs before the campaign began were about 30,000 […]

Issue of Mass Incarceration

Mass incarceration is one of the biggest social issues in our society. Unfourticnelty we house 25% of the worlds prisoners. Mass incarceration is mass or extreme rates of imprisonment. This is caused by many factors that has led to this social issue, for example neglect or corruption from our government officials for example, lack of policy and/or pocketing revenue for personal gain, implementing a zero tolerance policy by charging individuals for minor non violent-offenses for instance drug related crimes, and […]

The Plant of Joy: War on Drugs

In 2016, doctors and health care providers in the United States wrote a total of more than 214 million prescriptions for opioid medications. This comes down to a rate of 66.5 prescriptions for every 100 people. The number of opioid prescriptions has quadrupled since 1999. As of today, more than 130 people die per day from opioid-related drug overdoses per the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services website. There are more deaths from opioids than the number of deaths […]

War on Drugs: Social Work Measures Among Adolescents

Be cognizant of the fact that addictions to narcotics in the contemporary world pose a well-known social, health and psychological problem. In this, Lyman (2016) notes that as of 2012, there were approximately 250 million substance abusers who fell in the ages between 15 and 60. Note that out of this number, an estimated 16 million people form the segment of opiate users. A quick look at nations such as Iran would show that opiates are the most abused and […]

Positive Effect of War on Drugs: Impact of Marijuana Legalization

Introduction to the War on Drugs The war on drugs is a very real battle in the United States. Drugs tear apart jobs, lives, and families, but how harmful is a joint or two of Marijuana? Is this a war that is truly worth fighting for? According to drugpolicy.org (2018), there were over 1,572,579 arrests for drug violations in 2016 alone. This is an incredible number, which implicates the amount of time, effort, workforce, and money the United States puts […]

War on Drugs Philippines – Operation Double Barrel

As of June 30, 2016, President Duterte of the Philippines has given orders allowing the state-sanctioned murder of over 20,000 individuals allegedly involved in the drug trade. The whole situation is shockingly gruesome. Police invade homes and arrest individuals, people ruthlessly shot and left in the slums. More often than not the killers remain anonymous as hardly any security exists at the place of killings. Extrajudicial killings have happened every day since his election, and they are justified in the […]

A Brief History of the Drug War

October 14th, 1082. On On this day in 1982, President Ronald Reagan declared illicit drugs to be a threat to U.S. national security. The now popularized term “war on drugs” was first introduced by President Nixon in 1971 but can be traced all the way to 1914. A battle not as the citizens had been used to. Not against country. Not against a group. But against ideology. An interior problem that was slowing destroying the past American society, and leaving […]

The War on Drugs is a Losing Battle

The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State, Lisa McGirr, a professor of history at Harvard College, dives profound into the social, financial and political powers that arranged on inverse sides of the alcohol question. These powers since quite a while ago went before the entry of the eighteenth Amendment, in 1919, and the moving partnerships and unintended outcomes of Disallowance played out long after nullification in 1933. Liquor utilization in the Unified States expanded consistently […]

Drug Laws how they Affect Black America in Terms of Mass Incarceration

In 1865, under the Thirteenth Amendment, slavery was officially abolished in the United States. However, Black Americans have continued to experience forms of legal servitude through vagrancy laws, Jim Crow, and most recently, the War on Drugs. Beginning during Ronald Reagan's presidency - fully embraced by his successors, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton - the War on Drugs became a powerful movement supported my millions of Americans as drug use and addiction became a prevalent issue of society. However, […]

American War on Drug

When President Trump first hit the campaign trail, it was met with mixed reviews. In his announcement speech he frequently blamed Mexico for some of our nation’s problems. He said, 'When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. ... They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.' True many of those immigrants are leaving their war […]

Additional Example Essays

  • Drunk Driving
  • Why the legal drinking age should be lowered?
  • Gender Inequality in Education
  • Rosa Parks Vs. Harriet Tubman
  • PTSD in Veterans
  • A Dream To Become A Lawyer
  • Three Waves of Feminism
  • Two main strengths and weaknesses of international law
  • Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
  • Tracey Thurman and Her Impact on Domestic Violence Law
  • Colonism in Things Fall Apart
  • The short story "The Cask of Amontillado"

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers

  • Search Menu

Sign in through your institution

  • Browse content in Arts and Humanities
  • Browse content in Architecture
  • History of Architecture
  • Browse content in Art
  • History of Art
  • Browse content in Classical Studies
  • Classical Literature
  • Religion in the Ancient World
  • Browse content in History
  • Colonialism and Imperialism
  • Diplomatic History
  • Environmental History
  • Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
  • Historical Geography
  • History by Period
  • History of Agriculture
  • History of Gender and Sexuality
  • Industrial History
  • Intellectual History
  • International History
  • Legal and Constitutional History
  • Local and Family History
  • Maritime History
  • Military History
  • Political History
  • Regional and National History
  • Revolutions and Rebellions
  • Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
  • Social and Cultural History
  • Theory, Methods, and Historiography
  • Urban History
  • World History
  • Linguistics
  • Browse content in Literature
  • Literary Studies (European)
  • Literary Studies (Romanticism)
  • Literary Studies (American)
  • Literary Studies - World
  • Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
  • Literary Studies (19th Century)
  • Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
  • Literary Studies (British and Irish)
  • Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
  • Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
  • Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
  • Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
  • Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
  • Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
  • Literary Studies (War Literature)
  • Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
  • Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
  • Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
  • Media Studies
  • Browse content in Music
  • Applied Music
  • Ethnomusicology
  • Music Cultures
  • Music and Media
  • Music Theory and Analysis
  • Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
  • Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
  • Musicology and Music History
  • Performance Practice and Studies
  • Race and Ethnicity in Music
  • Browse content in Performing Arts
  • Browse content in Philosophy
  • Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
  • Epistemology
  • History of Western Philosophy
  • Metaphysics
  • Moral Philosophy
  • Philosophy of Science
  • Philosophy of Language
  • Philosophy of Mind
  • Philosophy of Law
  • Philosophy of Religion
  • Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
  • Social and Political Philosophy
  • Browse content in Religion
  • Biblical Studies
  • Christianity
  • History of Religion
  • Judaism and Jewish Studies
  • Qumran Studies
  • Religion and Politics
  • Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
  • Religious Studies
  • Browse content in Society and Culture
  • Cultural Studies
  • Technology and Society
  • Browse content in Law
  • Company and Commercial Law
  • Browse content in Comparative Law
  • Systems of Law
  • Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
  • Government Powers
  • Local Government Law
  • Criminal Law
  • Employment and Labour Law
  • Environment and Energy Law
  • History of Law
  • Human Rights and Immigration
  • Intellectual Property Law
  • Browse content in International Law
  • Public International Law
  • Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
  • Law and Politics
  • Law and Society
  • Browse content in Legal System and Practice
  • Legal Skills and Practice
  • Medical and Healthcare Law
  • Browse content in Policing
  • Police Regional Planning
  • Property Law
  • Browse content in Medicine and Health
  • History of Medicine
  • Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
  • Public Health
  • Browse content in Science and Mathematics
  • Browse content in Biological Sciences
  • Microbiology
  • Zoology and Animal Sciences
  • Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
  • Palaeontology
  • Environmental Science
  • History of Science and Technology
  • Browse content in Psychology
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Evolutionary Psychology
  • Health Psychology
  • Social Psychology
  • Browse content in Social Sciences
  • Browse content in Anthropology
  • Theory and Practice of Anthropology
  • Browse content in Business and Management
  • Business Ethics
  • Business History
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Criminology and Criminal Justice
  • Browse content in Economics
  • Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
  • Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
  • Economic Systems
  • Economic History
  • Economic Development and Growth
  • Financial Markets
  • History of Economic Thought
  • International Economics
  • Labour and Demographic Economics
  • Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
  • Microeconomics
  • Public Economics
  • Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
  • Browse content in Environment
  • Climate Change
  • Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
  • Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
  • Browse content in Politics
  • African Politics
  • Comparative Politics
  • Conflict Politics
  • Environmental Politics
  • International Relations
  • Middle Eastern Politics
  • Political Economy
  • Political Theory
  • Politics and Law
  • Public Policy
  • Russian Politics
  • UK Politics
  • US Politics
  • Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
  • African Studies
  • Asian Studies
  • Native American Studies
  • Browse content in Sociology
  • Childhood Studies
  • Economic Sociology
  • Health, Illness, and Medicine
  • Migration Studies
  • Organizations
  • Race and Ethnicity
  • Social Theory
  • Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
  • Sociology of Religion
  • Sociology of Education
  • Urban and Rural Studies
  • Reviews and Awards
  • Journals on Oxford Academic
  • Books on Oxford Academic

Drugs and Thugs: The History and Future of America's War on Drugs

Drugs and Thugs: The History and Future of America's War on Drugs

Drugs and Thugs: The History and Future of America's War on Drugs

  • Cite Icon Cite

How can the United States chart a path forward in the war on drugs? This book uncovers the full history of this war that has lasted more than a century. The book provides an essential view of the economic, political, and human impacts of U.S. drug policies. It takes readers from Afghanistan to Colombia, to Peru and Mexico, to Miami International Airport and the border crossing between El Paso and Juarez to trace the complex social networks that make up the drug trade and drug consumption. Through historically driven stories, the book reveals how the war on drugs has evolved to address mass incarceration, the opioid epidemic, the legalization and medical use of marijuana, and America's shifting foreign policy.

Signed in as

Institutional accounts.

  • Google Scholar Indexing
  • GoogleCrawler [DO NOT DELETE]

Personal account

  • Sign in with email/username & password
  • Get email alerts
  • Save searches
  • Purchase content
  • Activate your purchase/trial code
  • Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

  • Sign in with username/password
  • Recommend to your librarian
  • Institutional account management
  • Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

  • Click Sign in through your institution.
  • Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
  • When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
  • Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

  • Click Sign in through society site.
  • When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

  • View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
  • View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.

  • About Oxford Academic
  • Publish journals with us
  • University press partners
  • What we publish
  • New features  
  • Open access
  • Rights and permissions
  • Accessibility
  • Advertising
  • Media enquiries
  • Oxford University Press
  • Oxford Languages
  • University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

  • Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
  • Cookie settings
  • Cookie policy
  • Privacy policy
  • Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Home — Essay Samples — Law, Crime & Punishment — War on Drugs — Ending The War On Drugs In America

test_template

Ending The War on Drugs in America

  • Categories: Drug Addiction War on Drugs

About this sample

close

Words: 1752 |

Published: Dec 16, 2021

Words: 1752 | Pages: 4 | 9 min read

Image of Dr. Oliver Johnson

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

  • 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
  • Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

author

Verified writer

  • Expert in: Nursing & Health Law, Crime & Punishment

writer

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1476 words

3 pages / 1523 words

6 pages / 2904 words

8 pages / 3850 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on War on Drugs

The State and federal government spend a lot of funds on running prisons, jails, and parole for drug-related charges. Decriminalization of drugs would reduce the number of arrests made on drugs and related charges; law [...]

The War on Drugs has been a prevalent force shaping the American society for decades. It was initiated in the 1970s with the purpose of combating the production, sale, and consumption of illegal drugs. However, the War on Drugs [...]

Safe Area Gorazde is a graphic novel by Joe Sacco that provides a harrowing account of the Bosnian War. The book is a powerful and disturbing portrayal of the war's impact on the town of Gorazde. In this essay, I will analyze [...]

The short story "The Sniper" by Liam O'Flaherty is set during the Irish Civil War and follows a young Republican sniper as he fights in the streets of Dublin. The story, which is only a few pages long, encompasses a series of [...]

The War on Drugs is the attempt of preventing people from using substances that are considered bad for consumption. The American government has waged a war on drugs for several years. Since its declaration, the war on drugs has [...]

The war on drugs: fact or fiction? Well, it depends on how you look at it. According to the film, “The House I Live In,”directed by Eugene Jarecki, the war on drugs is an overblown scare tactic that has historically not [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

  • Instructions Followed To The Letter
  • Deadlines Met At Every Stage
  • Unique And Plagiarism Free

war on drugs titles for essays

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

Suggested Results

Antes de cambiar....

Esta página no está disponible en español

¿Le gustaría continuar en la página de inicio de Brennan Center en español?

al Brennan Center en inglés

al Brennan Center en español

Informed citizens are our democracy’s best defense.

We respect your privacy .

  • Analysis & Opinion

Race, Mass Incarceration, and the Disastrous War on Drugs

Unravelling decades of racially biased anti-drug policies is a monumental project.

  • Nkechi Taifa
  • Cutting Jail & Prison Populations
  • Social & Economic Harm

This essay is part of the  Brennan Center’s series  examining  the punitive excess that has come to define America’s criminal legal system .

I have a long view of the criminal punishment system, having been in the trenches for nearly 40 years as an activist, lobbyist, legislative counsel, legal scholar, and policy analyst. So I was hardly surprised when Richard Nixon’s domestic policy advisor  John Ehrlichman  revealed in a 1994 interview that the “War on Drugs” had begun as a racially motivated crusade to criminalize Blacks and the anti-war left.

“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or blacks, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin and then criminalizing them both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night in the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did,” Ehrlichman said.

Before the War on Drugs, explicit discrimination — and for decades, overtly racist lynching — were the primary weapons in the subjugation of Black people. Then mass incarceration, the gradual progeny of a number of congressional bills, made it so much easier. Most notably, the 1984  Comprehensive Crime Control and Safe Streets Act  eliminated parole in the federal system, resulting in an upsurge of  geriatric prisoners . Then the 1986  Anti-Drug Abuse Act  established mandatory minimum sentencing schemes, including the infamous 100-to-1 ratio between crack and powder cocaine sentences.  Its expansion  in 1988 added an overly broad definition of conspiracy to the mix. These laws flooded the federal system with people convicted of low-level and nonviolent drug offenses.

During the early 1990s, I walked the halls of Congress lobbying against various omnibus crime bills, which culminated in the granddaddy of them all — the  Violent Crime Control and Safe Streets Act  of 1994. This bill featured the largest expansion of the federal death penalty in modern times, the gutting of habeas corpus, the evisceration of the exclusionary rule, the trying of 13-year-olds as adults, and 100,000 new cops on the streets, which led to an explosion in racial profiling. It also included the elimination of Pell educational grants for prisoners, the implementation of the federal three strikes law, and monetary incentives to states to enact “truth-in-sentencing” laws, which subsidized an astronomical rise in prison construction across the country, lengthened the amount of time to be served, and solidified a mentality of meanness.

The prevailing narrative at the time was “tough on crime.” It was a narrative that caused then-candidate Bill Clinton to leave his presidential campaign trail to oversee the execution of a mentally challenged man in Arkansas. It was the same narrative that brought about the crack–powder cocaine disparity, supported the transfer of youth to adult courts, and popularized the myth of the Black child as “superpredator.”

With the proliferation of mandatory minimum sentences during the height of the War on Drugs, unnecessarily lengthy prison terms were robotically meted out with callous abandon. Shockingly severe sentences for drug offenses — 10, 20, 30 years, even life imprisonment — hardly raised an eyebrow. Traumatizing sentences that snatched parents from children and loved ones, destabilizing families and communities, became commonplace.

Such punishments should offend our society’s standard of decency. Why haven’t they? Most flabbergasting to me was the Supreme Court’s 1991  decision  asserting that mandatory life imprisonment for a first-time drug offense was not cruel and unusual punishment. The rationale was ludicrous. The Court actually held that although the punishment was cruel, it was not unusual.

The twisted logic reminded me of another Supreme Court  case  that had been decided a few years earlier. There, the Court allowed the execution of a man — despite overwhelming evidence of racial bias — because of fear that the floodgates would be opened to racial challenges in other aspects of criminal sentencing as well. Essentially, this ruling found that lengthy sentences in such cases are cruel, but they are usual. In other words, systemic racism exists, but because that is the norm, it is therefore constitutional.

In many instances, laws today are facially neutral and do not appear to discriminate intentionally. But the disparate treatment often built into our legal institutions allows discrimination to occur without the need of overt action. These laws look fair but nevertheless have a racially discriminatory impact that is structurally embedded in many police departments, prosecutor’s offices, and courtrooms.

Since the late 1980s, a combination of federal law enforcement policies, prosecutorial practices, and legislation resulted in Black people being disproportionately arrested, convicted, and imprisoned for possession and distribution of crack cocaine. Five grams of crack cocaine — the weight of a couple packs of sugar — was, for sentencing purposes, deemed the equivalent of 500 grams of powder cocaine; both resulted in the same five-year sentence. Although household surveys from the National Institute for Drug Abuse have revealed larger numbers of documented white crack cocaine users, the overwhelming number of arrests nonetheless came from Black communities who were disproportionately impacted by the facially neutral, yet illogically harsh, crack penalties.

For the system to be just, the public must be confident that at every stage of the process — from the initial investigation of crimes by police to the prosecution and punishment of those crimes — people in like circumstances are treated the same. Today, however, as yesterday, the criminal legal system strays far from that ideal, causing African Americans to often question, is it justice or “just-us?”

Fortunately, the tough-on-crime chorus that arose from the War on Drugs is disappearing and a new narrative is developing. I sensed the beginning of this with the 2008  Second Chance Reentry  bill and 2010  Fair Sentencing Act , which reduced the disparity between crack and powder cocaine. I smiled when the 2012 Supreme Court ruling in  Miller v. Alabama  came out, which held that mandatory life sentences without parole for children violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. In 2013, I was delighted when Attorney General Eric Holder announced his  Smart on Crime  policies, focusing federal prosecutions on large-scale drug traffickers rather than bit players. The following year, I applauded President Obama’s executive  clemency initiative  to provide relief for many people serving inordinately lengthy mandatory-minimum sentences. Despite its failure to become law, I celebrated the  Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act  of 2015, a carefully negotiated bipartisan bill passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2015; a few years later some of its provisions were incorporated as part of the 2018  First Step Act . All of these reforms would have been unthinkable when I first embarked on criminal legal system reform.

But all of this is not enough. We have experienced nearly five decades of destructive mass incarceration. There must be an end to the racist policies and severe sentences the War on Drugs brought us. We must not be content with piecemeal reform and baby-step progress.

Indeed, rather than steps, it is time for leaps and bounds. End all mandatory minimum sentences and invest in a health-centered approach to substance use disorders. Demand a second-look process with the presumption of release for those serving life-without-parole drug sentences. Make sentences retroactive where laws have changed. Support categorical clemencies to rectify past injustices.

It is time for bold action. We must not be satisfied with the norm, but work toward institutionalizing the demand for a standard of decency that values transformative change.

Nkechi Taifa is president of The Taifa Group LLC, convener of the Justice Roundtable, and author of the memoir,  Black Power, Black Lawyer: My Audacious Quest for Justice.

Related Issues:

  • Cutting Jail & Prison Populations
  • Social & Economic Harm

prison

The American ‘Punisher’s Brain’

U.S. sentencing practices seem especially extreme when compared with countries like Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands.

prison

Treating All Kids as Kids

Persistent and longstanding racism has fueled harsher treatment of young Black people in the justice system.

incarcerated people

What Did You Call Me?

An incarcerated person writes about how dehumanizing language like “inmate” is destructive.

Informed citizens are democracy’s best defense

Home / Essay Samples / Government / Federal Government / War on Drugs

War on Drugs Essay Examples

War on drugs in the philippines: exploring both sides of the issue.

War on drugs in the Philippines has gained a huge scale. This essay is structured into introduction, body, conclusion. The main purpose of the essay is to reveal both argument and counter argument on the topic of preventive actions and process on war on drugs...

War on Drugs in the Philippines: Crime and Its Causes

On the 30th day of May 2016, Rodrigo Roa Duterte was elected with over 16,000,000 votes. One of his main campaigns is the war on drugs. This propaganda is a good plan and a good way to solve one of the main problems in the...

The Us History of the Evolution of Drug and Drug Abuse

In this thematic essay the chosen topics for discovering the US history is - the history of drugs and drugs abuse. Drug is the thing that everyone afraid of, but why do some people still want to try it. Everybody knows somebody who has used...

Drugs Or Drug Policies: Where is the Root of Crime

The question concerning whether drugs cause crime or if drug policies cause crime is one which has been discussed at length, however no real conclusion has been reached. In “Relationship between drugs and crime” essay there is an attempt to find out the right answer...

Combating Proliferation of Drugs

The first step for the analyst would be to assemble the necessary data to securitize the cause and issues related to drug abuse and formulate a solution accordingly. Since drug abuse occurs mainly amongst the youths, data should be collected for all the people living...

War on Drugs in America

The illicit economy of drugs forms complex systems which resilient networks of criminals run. Despite moves for legalization, destabilizing influences of the illicit economies together with transnational crime is going to endure and sustain national efforts for addressing the evolving threat. Cocaine, methamphetamines and heroin,...

Representation of the War on Drugs in the Film the House I Live in

“The war on drugs has made government more powerful, citizens less free, and has not helped users or addicts” – Victor Mitchell. The war on drugs have created big life changes to people in the United States. It is not a war that can be...

Mexican Drug Cartels

The Industrial Revolutionary party dominated Mexico for seventy years until its defeat by the center right national action party in 2000. Though the PRI regained presidency in 2012 underneath the former president Enrique Pena Nieto, it had been absolutely weakened in 2018 landslide triumph of...

The Mexican Drug War

In 2007, the Mexican Drug Cartel controlled 90% of the Cocaine brought to the United States (Cook 2007). Cocaine, however, doesn’t come without its close relatives, violence and death. The Mexican War on Drugs is as much a concern to the United States as it...

Drug Trafficking in the United States and Policies to Combat It

Where to begin with the United States international counterdrug policy. We live in this world where the United States Government has felt like they have been doing a good job for the past 60 years on this subject. I am here to explain to you...

Trying to find an excellent essay sample but no results?

Don’t waste your time and get a professional writer to help!

You may also like

  • Constitution Essays
  • Fire Safety Essays
  • Affordable Care Act Essays
  • Gun Control Essays
  • Richard Nixon Essays
  • Gentrification Essays
  • Federalism Essays
  • Abraham Lincoln Essays
  • Global Governance Essays
  • Thomas Jefferson Essays

About War on Drugs

The War on Drugs is an effort in the United States since the 1970s to combat illegal drug use by greatly increasing penalties, enforcement, and incarceration for drug offenders.

The War on Drugs began in June 1971

Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Anti-Drug Abuse Act, Fair Sentencing Act (FSA).

samplius.com uses cookies to offer you the best service possible.By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .--> -->