Current officila drug policy confused Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Current officila drug policy confused - Essay Example Later the Office of the National Drug Control Policy was set up by President Reagan and its powers heightened by President Clinton. The cost of the drug abuse and control effort has been running in hundreds of millions of dollars. (Blumenson & Eva 2002, p.34). There existed very high stakes efforts, at least going by the senior US administration decree that drugs were outlawed in the US. But as fate and private revelation would put it, some government official were also secretly participating in the vice by either funding, trafficking or facilitating its production. Earlier evidence pointed to the Iran links. The money from these was allegedly being used to fund the US foreign policy interest in some specific countries such as in Afghanistan. Some states like the California are on record for passing bills to allow for the use of cannabis as natural medicine, a move that put the law and medicine at logger heads. (Hitz 1998, p.65) In the US, even possessing a pharmaceutical drug for use for non- medical purposes is considered a felony. Today cannabis is number four on the list of the most causes of apprehension in US. But further interesting statistics show that most of these arrests are racially biased. More black and Hispanics were targeted, yet it is estimated that equal numbers and potential offenders. Outside the US territory, there have been ‘proactive’ steps towards the war on drugs with the notable invasion of Panama two decades ago, whereby its head of states was accused of being as the ring leader of the vice. Curiously still, when two groups in Columbia were positively identified to be participating in drugs, the US is reported to have sided with one and financed it to attack the other militarily. And while these two groups fought, the paramilitaries seemed to be busy engaging in the illicit vice. Sometimes back in 1986, there were strong sentiments of the Central Intelligence Agency dr ug related involvement to the extent that money from the trade was use to arm the agency. Worst news was still to come in 1988, when a senate committee reported that some member were involved in the drug menace to the extent of either financing or accepting help from the dealers themselves. Again once some traffickers were jailed, instead of the frozen funds being used to fund humanitarian effort; there was leaked evidence that these would be used to fund other dealers. (Cockburn & Jeffrey 1998, p.56) Gary Webb (1996) gave further indication of how drugs were trafficked to L. Angeles for purchase of weapons amidst strong denials by some quotas. The Wall street Journal ( January 1997) also hinted that Bill Clinton was actively trying to conceal the vice knowingly, and that he was known and in contact with one of the chief architects Barry Seal who operated an airstrip. As fate would have it, the same Barry Seal somehow finds himself a job at the CIA! And having been frustrated by senior administrator above him, A CIA Gen. Fredrick Hitz produced documentary evidence that was to attest to the fact surrounding obstructed justice, abetting of