Nearly half a century after Richard Nixon launched America's 'war on drugs', Attorney General Jeff Sessions is pushing for a return to aggressive enforcement, alarming former police officers who witnessed its failures. Sessions, who favours the tough tactics of the 1980s and 1990s, has instructed prosecutors to use 'every tool we have' against drug offenders, including targeting users.
Critics argue the original war on drugs was counterproductive. Between 1980 and 2015, the number of people imprisoned for drug offences rose tenfold to 469,545, with most being low-level, non-violent offenders. A 2013 study found drug prices fell while purity increased, and a 2012 study showed severe punishment had little deterrent effect on drug crime or addiction rates.
Former Baltimore police officer Tim Longo described the approach as 'casting a wide net' that caught 'guppies and minnows' rather than violent criminals. Norm Stamper, former Seattle police chief, said the policy damaged community relations and led to mass incarceration, with non-violent offenders receiving sentences of 20 years to life.
Sessions credits the war on drugs with the decline in violent crime from 1991 to 2013, and the Department of Justice attributes a 3% rise in violent crime in 2014 to a 'retreat' from aggressive prosecution. However, Stamper calls the revival 'retrograde' and 'frightening', noting that $1.5 trillion was spent with little lasting effect.
