The Omnibus Drug Enforcement, Education, and Control Act of 1986 was introduced to stiffen penalties for pushers, increased customs and border patrols, outlawed synthetic drugs, and improved treatment and prevention programs. .
The illicit drug trade market is the second largest business in the world, bringing in over 500 billion dollars a year. The government has gone in and waged war against Columbian drug lords. Marijuana became the most popular drugs, due to the rise in usage, the federal government attempted to cut off the supply at the Mexican border. They have seized and destroyed billions of dollars worth of drugs intended for the consumption in our nation. There have been countless raids and stings on our own countries soil, resulting in many justified arrests. Despite its many profitable programs and war- like tactics, drug use continues to increase and will continue if we do not do anything about it, either in legalization or legislation, imprisonment or rehabilitation. America is constantly building more and more jails every year. We do this because it is easier to put drug offenders in jail than it is to try and help them. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse reported that 80% of all prisoners are drug offenders. Since 1980, we have tripled our prisons population even though crime rates have been declining since the seventies. In all reality, incarceration does little to deter a criminal from committing another offense when they are released. Prisons aren't solving our drug problems, but rather adding to it. After these people are released, they are labeled as ex-cons, and that is why most return to jail. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, total sentenced drug offenders went from 3,384 in 1970 to 55,624 in 1998 because of the stricter penalties enforced by the government. People have been arrested for marijuana alone, which doesn't include other illegal drugs.
