The War Within

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Aside from racial profiling and life after prison, the documentary shows how the War on Drugs policy treats addiction like a crime rather than a health issue. Jarecki explains that President Richard Nixon, who first initiated the War on Drugs, turned the War on Drugs into a political rhetoric. This means that the War on Drugs has lost its core meaning to become a political campaign winning strategy (The House I Live In). Although War on Drugs turned to a political issue, President Ronald Reagan had placed 2/3 of the federal budget towards treatment of addiction. However, this didn’t help abolish drug abuse, nor treat it. Geers, author of “Legalize Drugs and Stop the War on People,” argues that legalizing drugs will be the only way out. Geers argues that some of European countries “have controlled both drugs and crime, whereas in the United States harshly punitive programs have increased the supply of both”(Geers Par. 5). Basically, Geers is showing just how much the United States had failed in controlling drug addiction compared to other countries. One implication of Geers’ argument is that “America needs to treat drug use as a primarily a health and social problem rather than a crime” (Geers Par. 8). He also argues that drugs were legal in 1914 in the United States; however, there were “fewer addicts per capita and NONE of the crime problems it has today”(Geers Par.8). Geers explains that legalizing drugs will make the drug prices flunk because “the selling price of $100.00 worth of cocaine ‘on the street’ has only a real commodity value of $1.00” (Geers Par.1). This doesn’t only show that legalizing drugs will reduce drug prices, but it also shows that fewer people will use drugs for a short period of time. In another account, Geers urges the American government should focus more on “education, treatment and elimination of the drug trade through decriminalization”(Geers Par. 10). In other words, America is insanely concentrated on eliminating drug abusers, when it should be concentrated on treating the problem. Geers argues:

Decriminalization of drugs does not connote approval of taking drugs nor does it connote the selling of drugs to youngsters. Rather, it means intelligently regulating drugs the way we do alcohol (Geers Par. 10).

We can conclude that Geers is not promoting drug use rather he is purposing a solution to the “self-defeating” War on Drugs (Geers Par.21). Although Geers argument goes beyond Jarecki’s argument, it doesn’t necessarily weaken Jarecki’s argument because Geers and Jarecki are both urging the government to treat drug addicts like patients, rather than criminals. Although Geers article was written in 1995, it strengthens Jarecki’s documentary because it—like the other two articles—shows that the War on Drugs was and still is ineffective.

As a young black woman what really caught my attention is how drug abuse has destroyed the black community. Not only did it destroy it, but it will also continue destroying it even more. There have been countless documentaries that covered the issue on drugs; however, they did not fix nor stop the drug cycle in the African American communities. Although this documentary does a great job showing just how much the War on Drugs has failed, but if I were to suggest something beneficial, I would say invest in helping those communities. Jarecki, as a director he knows how to persuade his audience. His argument is convincing due to the way he presents his argument. Jarecki makes his audience think that although drugs may be affecting certain group of people, it’s indeed everyone’s problem. Jarecki shows many perspectives of this issue and he shows just how much unsuccessful this policy is. It’s important to know that such policy exists because it’s affecting not only drug abusers, but it also affects an entire generation. As I was writing this essay, I noticed that when I brought in outside sources to support or strengthen Jarecki’s argument, his argument got stronger and more convincing. When other arguments are introduced, the primary argument becomes more reliable because there will be more opinions that agree on the same topic, but from different angles.

Works Cited

Fauchon, Christina. "Counterpoint: The Case Against Profiling." International Social Science Review 79.3/4 (2004): 157-59. JSTOR. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

Geers, Thomas R. "Legalize Drugs And Stop The War On People." Education 116.2 (1995): 235-37. Academic Complete. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

Godsoe, Cynthia. "The Ban On Welfare For Felony Drug Offenders: Giving A New Meaning To "Life Sentence."" Berkeley Women's Law Journal 13.1 (1998): 257-67. Web. 16 Mar. 2015.

The House I Live In. Dir. Eugene Jarecki. Perf. Nanny Jeter and David Simon. Cinetic, 2012. DVD.