Content  

  I Introduction 4  

  II The Reagan Administration 4  

  II 1 Launching the War on Drugs: Though Words 4  

  II 2 but weak actions 6  

  II 3 Other ideas 8  

  II 4 From Reagan to Bush the late years and the first policy shifts 8  

  III The Bush Administration  11

  III 1 Demand side  11

  III 2 Militarization  12

  III 3 Unilateral Bilateral or Multilateral  14

  IV The Clinton Administration  15

  IV 1 Situation in the early 90ies  15

  IV 2 The continuing story no change  16

  V Conclusion  18

  VI Literature  23

  3  

I. Introduction

In this term paper, I want to discuss the “War on Drugs” in the 1980ies and early 90ies and compare the US approach of each period. Declared by President Reagan, the war on drugs changed under President Bush, and there are also a few differences under the Clinton Administration.

What were and are the major threats for the United States, and how did the US try to act against them? Which impact had the war on drugs on Latin America? Was the war on drugs successful? Which administration had the best and most successful approach to this topic?

II. The Reagan Administration

II.1. Launching the War on Drugs: Tough Words…

In February of 1982, twenty years ago, President Reagan launched the War on drugs. Then, the war on drugs was seen as a US security issue, drug abuse had increased over the seventies and was seen as major threat. The President was confronted with rising domestic pressure to do something about the burgeoning

US drug “epidemic” during his first year in office. 1

The US government increased expenditures for narcotics control programs during the ensuing seven years of Reagan’s two- term presidency, reaching $ 4,3 billion

1 Bagley, Bruce Michael, After San Antonio, p. 2. and Steiner, Roberto, Hooked on Drugs: Colombian-US

Relations, p. 161.

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annually in 1988. 2 The result was a tougher legislation concerning national drug issues, and, maybe more importantly, the involvement of the US military forces in

the anti drug war. Washington’s tougher anti- drug campaign in the 1980s was paralleled by intensifying US diplomatic pressures and economic sanctions against

Latin American countries. 3

Another campaign started at this time was the “Just Say No” program in the media

and the educational system. First Lady Nancy Reagan was the founder of this

campaign. 4 With this massive promoting the war on drugs suddenly became a major topic of the time.

“Control of drug trafficking ranked higher than

immigration, foreign debt, and communist

expansion in Central America as a priority

issue in US-Latin American relations.” 5

A lot of money was spent, but scholars agree that the war on drugs in his early

years was lost on every front. 6 At the end of the eighties, drugs were more readily available and cheaper than in 1982, and drug abuse had continued to increase

dramatically. According to the National Drug Policy Board (1988), in 1987

between 322 and 418 metric tons of cocaine were available in the North American

market at stable prices and quality. 7 There were similar trends in the cases of marijuana, heroin, and other drugs.

2 Bagley, Bruce Michael, US Foreign Policy and the War on Drugs: Analysis of a policy failure, p. 189.

3 Bagley, After San Antonio, p. 2.

4 See website: http://www.reaganfoundation.org/reagan/nancy/just_say_no.asp. 5 Bagley, The new hundred years war?, p. 161.

6 Bagley, US Foreign Policy and the War on Drugs, p. 190.

7 Salazar, Luis Suarez, “Drug Trafficking “and Social and Political Conflicts in Latin America: Some Hypotheses, p. 84.

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Only a few victories had been won, for example federal cocaine seizures rose from

just 2 tons in 1981 to 27 tons in 1986 and to almost 100 tons by 1989. 8 But the overall picture was no t a victory; drug abuse was a bigger threat at the end of the eighties than in the beginning.

At the same time, according to Salazar, there was a dramatic increase in secret

underground laboratories in North America, where synthetic drugs were produced.

In 1985 there were 419 underground labs, and in 1987, already 682 were known. 9

For the US American government, the Latin American states were responsible for

this dangerous situation. The first years of the war on drugs went terribly wrong,

the situation intensified in the eighties enormously. The US had spent a lot of

money in the drug war, but the outcome of the early years was disastrous. There

was a strong front against drugs, the public opinion supported the war on drugs,

the media cooperated and the congress supported the war too. But what went

wrong?

II.2. …but weak actions?

Perhaps the most common line of explanation claims that the Reagan

administration, despite its though anti-drug rhetoric, never actually went to war. 10 There were different politicians who complained that drug prevention programs

were not organized well and that not enough effort ha d been made. There was the

opinion that the war on drugs was not though enough, and that despite the big

speeches not enough happened in fact.

8 Bagley, After San Antonio, p. 2.

9 Salazar, p.84.

10 Bagley, US Foreign Policy and the War on Drugs, p. 191.

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Others criticized Reagan for not giving the US military a leading role in the war

on drugs. I think this criticism is wrong, in 1986 the US House of Representatives

approved a bill which specifically directed the US Armed Forces to “seal” the

country’s borders against drug trafficking. 11

The military played a role, and I think that this was not the reason for the

miserable outco me of the war on drugs in the eighties. The main reason, in my

opinion, is the national perspective of the Reagan administration. There was no

international cooperation, the US didn’t negotiate with Latin American states very

seriously. Even bilateral cooperation wouldn’t have been enough, I think that the

war on drugs needs to be fought on a international basis.

A lot of politicians demanded no more negotiations but more US pressure,

economical and political, on Latin American governments to force them to

cooperate. For example, former US Senator Paula Hawkins demanded such

pressure, and she won a 1986 congressional decision to suspend US aid to Bolivia

on the grounds of non- compliance – in spite of the Reagan administration’s

protests that such sanctions would be counterproductive for future Bolivian cooperation against drug trafficking and other US foreign policy goals in that

country. 12 In short, the critics thought that the Reagan administration talked tough, but never really got tough.

There was a congressional demand of harsher US laws, more manpower, resources

and firepower against the traffickers and more diplomatic and economical

pressures against non- cooperating states. 13

11 Bagley, US Foreign Policy and the War on Drugs, p. 191.

12 Bagley, US Foreign Policy and the War on Drugs, p. 192.

13 Bagley, US Foreign Policy and the War on Drugs, p. 193.

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