Over decades, the United States has experienced devastating consequences from illicit drug use. Foremost, the drug menace has led to an immense burden to the public healthcare system through expenditure on the treatment of substance use disorders. Today, abuse of prescription drugs, primarily opioids is causing the highest number of deaths in the U.S. history. On the other hand, illicit drug use has been causing economic losses over the years, leading to increases in government expenditure on drugs every year. For instance, the country was estimated to have lost $193 billion in 2007 only due to illicit drug use, especially in lost productivity, health and crime. These consequences are the key reason why the US has not relented on the war against drugs. Over the past decades, the federal government has been carrying out reforms in the justice system with attempts to break the cycle crime and drug use (Kerlikowske, 2012). The main focus has been reducing drug trafficking, drug production and drug related transnational threats. Despite the concerted efforts by different Administrations since the declaration of ‘War on Drugs’ by President Nixon in 1971, it is apparent that the U.S. has not yet been able to end drug menace. In the past four decades, deaths from drug abuse have been increasing, annually, and this phenomenon is evidenced by statistics for the past decade. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Agency [FDA] (2013), prescription drugs abuse deaths increased from 66.7% in 2000 to 77.5% by 2010. In reference to these statistics, it is explicit that the United States’ Government’s response has not been adequate to combat drugs.
Drug Problem in the U.S
Patrick Kimuyu
Introduction
Over decades, the United States has experienced devastating consequences from illicit drug use. Foremost, the drug menace has led to an immense burden to the public healthcare system through expenditure on the treatment of substance use disorders. Today, abuse of prescription drugs, primarily opioids is causing the highest number of deaths in the U.S. history. On the other hand, illicit drug use has been causing economic losses over the years, leading to increases in government expenditure on drugs every year. For instance, the country was estimated to have lost $193 billion in 2007 only due to illicit drug use, especially in lost productivity, health and crime. These consequences are the key reason why the US has not relented on the war against drugs. Over the past decades, the federal government has been carrying out reforms in the justice system with attempts to break the cycle crime and drug use (Kerlikowske, 2012). The main focus has been reducing drug trafficking, drug production and drug related transnational threats. Despite the concerted efforts by different Administrations since the declaration of ‘War on Drugs’ by President Nixon in 1971, it is apparent that the U.S. has not yet been able to end drug menace. In the past four decades, deaths from drug abuse have been increasing, annually, and this phenomenon is evidenced by statistics for the past decade. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Agency [FDA] (2013), prescription drugs abuse deaths increased from 66.7% in 2000 to 77.5% by 2010. In reference to these statistics, it is explicit that the United States’ Government’s response has not been adequate to combat drugs.
The U.S. Drug Problem
From an epidemiological perspective, drug problem in the US has reached catastrophic levels. Illicit drug abuse is causing more deaths in the country than ever before, despite the government’s efforts to end the menace. Consequences of drugs on the U.S. population can evaluated from its impact on the U.S. economy and human resources. Foremost, reports that children have indulged in drug abuse are alarming. Kerlikowske (2012) reports that illicit drug abuse among teenagers, primarily 10th graders increased rapidly between 2006 and 2011 to reach 19.2% from 16.8%. Current reports from the National Drug Control Policy reveal that drug abuse has caused immense challenges to the primary care system. It is reported that in 2010 alone, 23.1 million people in the U.S. were suffering from substance abuse disorders. This population accounts for about 9.1% of the country’s total population. Therefore, it is apparent that the scope of drug problem in the U.S. is wide. Due to the burden this phenomenon causes in the U.S. public healthcare system, only 2.6 million people of the total population of 23.1 million who required treatment for drug related illnesses received it (Kerlikowske, 2012). This implies that almost 89% of those who were suffering from substance abuse disorders did not receive treatment. This explains why deaths from drugs abuse have been increasing year-by-year. On the other hand, drug problem has led increased government expenditure over the past three decades. Overall, it is estimated that the U.S. Government has increased its expenditure on state corrections from $8 billion in 1986 to over $50 billion, currently (Kerlikowske, 2012).
Federal Government's Response
Federal government has been fighting the drug menace relentlessly over the past three decades. However, significant responses began in 1999 after the development of the National Drug Control Strategy. This agency has been responsible for developing response strategies for reducing drug abuse in the U.S. It also carries out budget estimates for all drug control programs. Ideally, the federal government’s response focuses on five main goals. Foremost, it targets at reducing the rate of illicit drugs’ flow into the country through drug smuggling. The second focus of the federal government’s response is to disrupt organized drug trafficking networks at the national, as well as the international scope. Third, the government aims at addressing drug related transnational threats that compromise national security, including terrorism and human trafficking. Similarly, the fourth federal government’s response aims at addressing economic losses incurred through drug trafficking. The government has been trying to curb money laundering and other illegal financial activities perpetuated by narco-terrorists and drug traffickers. Finally, the federal government has been focusing on addressing the drug problem at the international scope, primarily through strengthening law enforcement institutions and governance in foreign countries where illegal drugs have become a national crisis (Wyler, 2008).
Collectively, the federal government has established appropriate drug control strategies to disrupt drug production and trafficking, drug use, incarceration, drug related crime, and delinquency. It has also responded by establishing international partnerships to enhance its efforts to reduce drug supply and demand in foreign countries.
One of the most significant responses by the federal government towards combating drugs was the establishment of drug courts. Ideally, the government intended to develop appropriate strategies that will facilitate monitoring drug abuse and provide immediate support to drug offenders. As a result, it introduced various community corrections programs. Following these responses, drug courts have been found to produce significant benefits in the fight against drugs. For instance, participants who went through the program showed reduced criminal activity and reduced tendencies to return to drug abuse. In 2011, adult drug courts helped to increase the rate of drug use abstinence to 87.9% among the participants in the program (Kerlikowske, 2012). This implies that the realignment of the public health system with the criminal justice system is generating appreciable outcomes.
Another significant approach by the federal government that has proved to be reliable in combating drugs is the increased support to drug law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, territorial, local, and tribal levels. In the past few years, the rate of participation of drug law enforcement agencies in drug related investigations has increased to more than 90% compared to the case before 2011 when participation was very low. This participation has led to the disruption of over 3,000 drug trafficking organizations. An outstanding example of the benefits of improved support to drug law enforcement agencies is the disruption of La Familia Michoacana drug network by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) in collaboration with other agencies in all levels. This operation led to drug seizures amounting to $62 million, assets worth $3.8 million, and more than 1,900 arrests. It is worth noting that this drug cartel’s network had spread to all regions of the U.S. (Kerlikowske, 2012). Therefore, its disruption had significant impacts on domestic drug production and trafficking.
Similarly, the federal government has responded to the issue of drugs by securing national borders. This approach is aimed at reducing drug smuggling into the country. In the past, millions of illicit drugs used to enter the U.S. from the neighboring countries, primarily Mexico. Therefore, the federal government has responded to this issue by securing the Southwest border. Following this strategy, the Department of Homeland Security has increased the number of security agents for border patrols to about 21,000 currently, from 10,000 in 2004. Of the total border patrol agents, 18% has been deployed along the Southwest border to control drug flows from Mexico. This strategy has increased seizures of drugs, illicit drug profits and weapons by 41%, 74% and 159%, respectively since 2008 (Kerlikowske, 2012).
Moreover, the federal government has responded to the drug problem by developing strategies aimed at reducing prescription drug abuse. This approach has been prompted by the fact that deaths resulting from overdose with prescription opioids have increased by 313% over the past decade. The first approach for reducing prescription drug abuse is the reformulation of most opioid drugs to abuse-deterrent formulations. For instance, FDA took regulatory actions to have Opana ER and OxyContin, some of the highly-potent opioids, reformulated to reduce abuse. Other key approaches include promoting prescriber-patient education, opioid labeling and the development of agents to opioid overdose and addiction (Throckmorton, 2013). It is apparent that the use of Naloxone has decreased opioid’s overdose deaths.
Conclusion
In a brief conclusion, it is apparent that the U.S. Government has been able to contain the issue of drugs over the past three decades. For instance, incarcerations have increased to an economic and social injurious level, reaching more than 500,000 people on drug charges, today, compared to 50,000 in 1980 (Newman, 2013). Drug prohibition has also led to immense economic consequences with billions of taxpayers’ money going to waste in the war on drugs. Therefore, the fact that drug related deaths and economic costs have been increasing over the past decades implies that the federal government’s response has not been adequate for combating drugs.
References
Food and Drug Agency [FDA] (2013). FAERS reporting by patient outcomes by year. Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Surveillance/AdverseDrugEffects/ucm070461.htm
Kerlikowske, R. (2012). 2012 national drug control strategy. Washington, D.C.: The White House. Retrieved from https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/ondcp/2012_ndcs.pdf
Newman, T. (2013 January 4). Connecting the dots: 10 disastrous consequences of the drug war. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tony-newman/drug-war-consequences_b_2404347.html?ir=India&adsSiteOverride=in
Throckmorton, D. (2013). Examining the federal government's response to the prescription drug abuse crisis. Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Testimony/ucm356674.htm
Wyler, L. (2008). International drug control policy. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service (Library of Congress). Retrieved from http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/107223.pdf
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- Patrick Kimuyu (Author), 2018, Drug Problem in the U.S., Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/388762