THE WAR ON DRUGS: POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES Baum (1997) reports that the "war on drugs" was officially launched by President Ronald Reagan in 1982 with the creation of a national office under the direction of the President that would coordinate efforts to address the problems of illegal drugs. This office and its budget, according to Miron (2004), have grown yearly until now the annual budget is approximately 19.8 billion dollars.
Miron (2004) notes that primarily the "war" consists of actions supporting stricter drug enforcement aimed at stopping importation and sale of drugs. In other words, the war on drugs is based on targeting the drug supply through aggressive law enforcement; however, there are additional programs that aim at treatment, prevention and education.
Has the war on drugs been successful? According to Inciardi (2001), the findings are mixed. There are indications that aggressive law e
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