Running Head: THE WAR ON DRUGS
The War on Drugs
Reagan L. Brackett
Helm School of Government, Liberty University
Dr. W. Scott Wilson
PLCY-700
Foundations of Public Policy
February 27, 2022
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Annotated Bibliography
In this annotated bibliography I will explore the War on Drugs policy in the United States
and even globally. Drug policy was officially referred to as the War on Drugs in the 1970s by
President Richard Nixon when the United States federal government decided to crack down on
drug crime. This phrase was the government-led initiative of drug prohibition using military
tactics and aid with the goal of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States and around the
world.
Beckett, K., & Brydolf-Horwitz, M. (2020). A Kinder, Gentler Drug War? Race, Drugs, and
Punishment in 21st Century America.;Punishment & Society,;0(0), 1–25.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474520925145
This article seeks to determine if the kinder, gentler rhetoric the disproportionately white
opiate crisis has had any effect on drug sentencing policy and drug law enforcement and
if that effect mirrors the sympathetic rhetoric. The authors use data concerning trends in
sentencing policy and data concerning drug related arrests and imprisonment to assess
whether their thesis is correct. It is determined that, in fact, their thesis is not accurate in
thinking that the softer rhetoric around opiate use is leading to a softer effect on drug
sentencing policy and drug law enforcement, specifically because the opiate crisis is
mainly in the White population. This source is important to my research interest because
it show that policy reform concerning the War on Drugs and the historic rhetoric around
it changing over the recent years does in fact fight against the racial disparities the War
on Drugs created in drug policies, incarceration, and arrests. This gives way to more
research exploring if these recent policy reforms and changed rhetoric concerning drug
users really is going to have more benefits than the stricter policies of the War on Drugs
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and then how to reach the rural areas of the United States so that the benefit are felt
nationwide and not just in urban America.
Earp, B. D., Lewis, J., & Hart, C. L. (2021). Racial Justice Requires Ending the War on
Drugs.;The American Journal of Bioethics,;21(4), 1–29.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2020.1861364
This article argues for the immediate end of the War on Drugs, because it is inherently
racist, by decriminalization and legalization of illicit drugs for personal use. The authors
of this article use the arguments that drug prohibition harms users, communities, feeds
systemic racism, and violates rights. It is also argued that decriminalization and legal
regulation have many benefits. The case study of Portugal is used to show how the
decriminalization of recreational drugs reduced rates of substance abuse disorders,
overdoses, drug related incarcerations, allowed more resources for the criminal justice
system, and reduced drug-related transferable diseases. The argument stating that drug
prohibition violates rights demonstrates that United States citizens have the right to
control what substances they put into their body whether for enjoyment or self-
exploration. The authors mention how alcohol, tobacco, and prescription drugs all have
some negative effects that could be just as dangerous and addictive as any illicit drug.
The authors then make the case for drug policy reform. This article coincides with my
research interests in the sense that I would like to explore the data concerning the claims
made in this article to determine if the War on Drugs is a failure and what needs to be
done instead.
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Farahmand, P., Arshed, A., & Bradley, M. V. (2020). Systemic Racism and Substance Use
Disorders.;Psychiatric Annals,;50(11), 494–498. https://doi.org/10.3928/00485713-
20201008-01
This article seeks to explore and show the racial disparities in substance use disorders, the
reasons why it persists, and to make suggestions to make the care more equitable. The
authors show how substance use disorders disproportionately effect people of color. They
also show how treatment for substance use disorders among people of color is less
available for people of color than it is for White people. They use studies that show how
often people of color are likely to complete treatment compared to White people, what
counties have outpatient SUD facilities and those counties demographics, and studies
showing that people of color who did attend treatment facilities were more likely to be
arrested for driving under the influence in the year after the treatment. This article also
shows causes of racial disparities in substance use disorders, such as, their suggestion that
systemic racism contributes to SUD racial disparities and that racial disparities in SUD
outcomes started with racist framework of early US drug policy. The authors do this by
citing studies and refereeing to the Harrison Act showing that after it passed physicians
did not want to treat addiction and instead users were forced to quit cold turkey. They
show the precedent this act set for laws linking substance use, race, and fears of violent
crime. This source is relevant to my research interest because links substance use with
racism and then links it to US drug policies. This is in a way a starting place for exploring
the racial disparities in the War on Drugs.
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Hart, C. L., & Hart, M. Z. (2019). Opioid Crisis: Another Mechanism used to Perpetuate
American Racism.;Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology,;25(1), 6–11.
https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000260
This article examines whether the opioid crisis will help change the way people perceive
the drug crisis in the United States in a more sympathetic light. Unlike a previous article
written a year after this one, these authors seem to have a more pessimistic view of this
being the case. The authors examine the fact that this gentler war on drugs is not a new
concept but that is because this new opioid crisis mainly effects White people, and the
users are painted more as victims of drug traffickers. This article also examines how they
believe the brunt of the War on Drugs will just transfer from both drug users and
traffickers to mainly drug traffickers – fueled by racialized perspectives of who
lawmakers and citizens believe are the drug traffickers. They show that regardless even
of this new rhetoric suggesting a gentler War on Drugs the number of those arrested for
drug-law violations has not changed in 25 years, even to today. The authors also use the
fact that prosecutors have now begun to use murder charges against drug dealers, friends,
etc. in the event of a drug overdose. This article is relevant to my research interest
because it offers another point of view, accompanied with statistics and actual new
policies that indicate policy makers are continuing to be tough on drug crimes. This goes
to show that there is more research that needs to be done in this area to see if, in fact, the
War on Drugs is changing.
Langner, J., & Zajicek, A. (2017). Social Construction of Drug Policies and Target Populations:
U.S. Policy and Media Discourse.;Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Sociologica,;62,
47–62. https://doi.org/10.18778/0208-600x.62.04
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The objective of this article is to show that the current research regarding drug/marijuana
discourse is lacking even though this topic has been studied in the past. The authors use
how even though there are some states that have adjusted their laws and take on
marijuana the federal take on marijuana has not changed. They also point out how the
history of laws created to prohibit marijuana in the first place were very racially
motivated and that these perceptions carry over into today’s views by certain people. And
that it depends on the political environment. When Obama was President there was an
effort made toward legalizing marijuana for medical and recreational uses. However, the
criminalization is firmly set in federal law which does not seem to be changing. And with
the change in presidents comes the possibility of a change in focus concerning US drug
policy. They point out that the media and narratives concerning drug and minorities are
what could be stalling the progressive change, specifically in more southern states and at
a national level. This research could be important to the research I am interested in
because it provides some spots that have not been looked at, such as, what is it that puts
southern states at odds to other states new thoughts on marijuana regulation and even
why states are changing their laws, but the federal government is not.
Loharuka, J. (2019).;A New Look at the US War on Drugs and the Colorblind Criminalization of
Latinx Immigrants. 1–37.
This research examines how the War on Drugs has produced an over-criminalization of
the US immigration system because of the systemic racism rooted in US drug policy.
This author uses existing research on race in the War on Drugs and linking it to
immigration. The “colorblind” terms used in the policy allow systemic racism to be used
through the War on Drugs while claiming it is “colorblind.” The explanation of how
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immigration enforcement has become intertwined in anti-drug enforcement is also used
in this article to support their thesis. Two other things used to support the author’s thesis
are political motives behind the criminalization of immigration law and how the
immigration system lacks the same rights offered to criminals. This source is pertaining
to my research interest in the sense that it looks at the racialization of the War on Drugs
in a different context other than effecting people of color in the United States and mass
incarceration. This article examines the impact of systemic racism within the War on
Drugs on immigration policies. It is another important level of the devastating
consequences/failures of the War on Drugs. And examining this is necessary to enact
change and reform for racial equity in the criminal justice system in general.
Osler, M. (2021). What We Got Wrong in the War on Drugs.;University of St. Thomas Law
Journal, 1–18.
This article goes over the places where and what was done wrong in the War on Drugs.
The author points out different aspects that played a major role in the War on Drugs –
myths, misunderstandings, and ignored facts. The first aspect that the author uses to show
what went wrong was the fact that the War on Drugs was never race-neutral. Quotes from
people in the Nixon administration are used to demonstrate how race has played a part in
the “war” from the beginning even though the truth is that white Americans are just as
likely to buy and sell drugs as black Americans. Another aspect used that we got wrong is
that the War on Drugs did not consider that drugs are different than other crimes. The
victims of drug use are typically those who are using the drugs, whereas other crimes
such as robbery and murder have victims who are not the criminal. Yet, we punish the
victims of drug use as if they are criminals who hurt others besides their self. The last
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aspect the author uses to support what went wrong in the War on Drugs is that narcotics
are a market for which we used the rhetoric and tactics of a war instead of using an
economics approach. This source is relevant to my research interest because it gives some
other aspects of the War on Drugs in which some more research could be done and still
begs the question, why has this War on Drugs continued for decades even though it has
clearly not been a success.
Polomarkakis, K. A. (2017). Drug Law Enforcement Revisited: The “War” Against the War on
Drugs.;Journal of Drug Issues,;47(3), 396–404.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022042617697017
This article aims to look at the view point that law enforcement is inadequate in
achieving the goals of the War on Drugs. The author of this article looks at the concept of
law enforcement in general, law enforcement foundation, and the rationale behind law
enforcement. Then the author discusses potential benefits of law enforcement and how
they seem to be not easily identifiable in the long run. Examples are used, where needed,
to show the shortcomings of law enforcement in theoretical and practical levels. I find
this source to interesting and relevant to my research interest because it brings in an
international view of the War on Drugs. The War on Drugs has not just been a policy in
the United States, it has been a policy that has been implemented in other countries as
well. This study shows how the policy has also failed in these other countries and not just
in the United States. It shows that this policy in general is flawed in the way that is
determined to fight drug crime. Again, this source’s analysis of law enforcement’s
benefits that do not outweigh the costs make one question why then more than just the
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United States continue this War on Drugs when many scholars have shown this is a failed
tactic.
Rosino, M. L., & Hughey, M. W. (2018). The War on Drugs, Racial Meanings, and Structural
Racism: A Holistic and Reproductive Approach.;American Journal of Economics and
Sociology,;77(3-4), 849–892. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajes.12228
This article develops a holistic and reproductive approach to understanding racial
oppression. It uses racial meanings and structural racism related to the War on Drugs.
The authors use newspaper articles and online media which talks about the War on Drugs
to show that these act as racialized structuring mechanisms that then serve as symbolic
resources which maintain forms of structural racism – an example of this structural
racism they specifically use is the War on Drugs. The authors look at the comments from
individuals on online news articles and use these to show racialized social reproduction –
ideas and practices that rationalize, justify, and normalize racism and racial inequality.
By using a holistic and reproductive approach they exploit the shortcomings of other
approaches and show how racism is reproduced. I am interested in how the War on Drugs
continues racial disparity in mass incarceration. This source uses the War on Drugs as a
case study to show how this policy is a form of structural racism that is perpetuated
through ideas and justifications created by individuals. It also shows that to change
certain policies, such as the War on Drugs, first the language and public awareness needs
to be addressed and changed.
Walden, B. (2019). Addicted to the War on Drugs.;Journal of Law & Public Affairs,;5(1), 1–13.
Similarly, to the other articles here, this article claims that America has an addiction to
the War on Drugs. This article argues that America’s War on Drugs is so normalized that
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the inherent immoral nature of the policy is overlooked and considered the lesser of the
two evils. To support this assertion, the author uses the idea that the effects of the War on
Drugs can increase and continue the cycle of drug use. The author also uses the concept
that drug prohibition can also increase drug related violence and crime, which is the
opposite affect these prohibition policies claim to have or claim as goals. Another way
the author shows support for the central thesis is through showing how the drug policies
have acted as a new set of Jim Crow laws, creating policies that are oppressive to
minority communities. The case study used to further support the thesis is how
Philadelphia has been fighting for harm reduction even though the War on Drugs
ideology is very punitive. The take this source has comparing America’s apparent need to
keep the War on Drugs going to an addiction is very ironic. What I found interesting in
this article for my future research interest is the aspect of using social work as a path
forward. Instead of a more militant tactic using an approach that utilizes an organization
that is set up to enhance human wellbeing and meet the needs of those who are
vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.
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