War on Drugs

The United States has been challenged with the war on drugs for decades. When we observe our country through a law enforcement aspect we can find that most crime occurs due to economical obstacles, minority discrimination, and more importantly the break out of various illegal/legal drugs. The increase of drug use, drug traffic and harsher laws against drug crimes the increase in our prison populations has increased. The cost that goes into the war on drugs is nearly 50 billion dollars per year. (2004) Our prison population is close to 2 million individuals.( 2004) We spend close to 20 billion dollars just to keep drug users and sellers in our prison systems. These figures contribute and affect the overcrowding in our prison systems. 

Texas recently became the nation's incarceration leader and 21% of the Texas prison inmates are nonviolent drug offenders. (Callahan, 2000) Although Texas is harsh with their drug sentencing, the tough laws have not seemed to cut down on the war on drugs. Although there are tough drug laws in the State of Texas, the decrease of drug related crimes has not seemed to decrease. The laws do not deter drug dealers; the laws simply move the dealers from state to state. "The war on drugs and accompanying mandatory minimum-sentencing laws, fueled by media and political "lock 'em up and throw away the key" campaigns of the past 25 years have filled our county jails and state prison systems with substance abusers and parole violators and more women than ever in the history of our country."(Gido, 2006)

"As 2006 begins, prisons large and small, rural and urban, struggle to house and separate, feed and clothe, program and habilitate pretrial and sentenced, local, state and federal detainees and inmates, while balancing public safety and inmate and staff security and safety, using a model that has largely never worked." (Gido, 2006) Different solutions need to be researched in order to control the overcrowded prisons due to drug offense crimes.