Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Centers & Programs
    • Centers
      • Center for Energy Studies
      • Center for Health and Biosciences
      • Center for the Middle East
      • Center for Public Finance
      • Center for the U.S. and Mexico
      • McNair Center
      Center for Energy Studies
      Providing new insights on the role of economics, policy and regulation in the performance and evolution of energy markets.
      More Details
      The globe at night, lights in populated areas illuminated
      Center for Health and Biosciences
      Advancing data-based policies that promote health and well-being in the U.S. and around the world.
      More Details
      Female healthcare worker lifts finger to press digital buttons featuring topical iconography
      Edward P. Djerejian Center for the Middle East
      Developing pragmatic policy approaches to the region’s enduring political, economic and societal concerns.
      More Details
      Topographic map of Middle East
      Center for Public Finance
      Delivering research and analysis on the effects of major U.S. fiscal policies.
      More Details
      Stack of coins with mathematical figure overlays
      Center for the U.S. and Mexico
      Strengthening the binational relationship by addressing major concerns on both sides of the border.
      More Details
      Textured flags of America and Mexico
      McNair Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth
      Providing actionable policy analysis and recommendations that aim to expand the economy through private enterprise.
      More Details
      Professionals gather around a large table with laptops, printed documents and coffee cups for a business meeting
    • Programs
      • China Studies
      • Drug Policy
      • International Economics
      • Presidential Elections
      • Religion & Public Policy
      • Science & Technology Policy
      • Space Policy
      China Studies
      Analyzing the influence of the transnational circulation of people, technologies, commodities and ideas in China.
      Read More
      Person walks alongside large banner with Chinese characters
      Drug Policy
      Pursuing research and open debate to develop pragmatic drug policies based on common sense and driven by human rights interests.
      Read More
      Marijuana
      International Economics
      Studying timely issues in global economic policy as well as developmental policy in foreign countries.
      Read More
      International paper currencies stacked together, showing range of colors and styles
      Presidential Elections
      Offering nonpartisan analysis of elections to better understand the changing dynamics of presidential campaigns.
      Read More
      An assortment of campaign buttons from a variety of US elections and political pursuits are displayed in a collage
      Religion and Public Policy
      Exploring how religion and cultural factors interact with public policy issues.
      Read More
      A worn path stretches between rows of olive trees
      Science and Technology Policy
      Addressing a broad range of policy issues that affect scientists and their research.
      Read More
      A scientist picks up test tubes from a rack.
      Space Policy
      Focusing on U.S. space policy and the future of space travel.
      Read More
      The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth at sunrise
  • Events
    Latin children labor in unregulated conditions
    Center for the U.S. and Mexico
    Tue, May. 30, 2023 | 4 pm - 5 pm
    Baker Briefing: Child Labor Laws and Immigration See Details
    US MEXICO Flags
    Center for the U.S. and Mexico
    Wed, May. 31, 2023 | 5 pm - 6:45 pm
    The US-Mexico Relationship: A Conversation with the Honorable Earl Anthony Wayne, Former US Ambassador to Mexico See Details
    Small child reaches into drawer with firearm
    Center for Health and Biosciences
    Fri, Jun. 02, 2023 | 8 am - 4 pm
    Preventing Firearm Injury in the Greater Houston Area Through Purpose and Policy See Details
  • Experts
    • Biomedical Research
    • Child Health
    • China
    • Conflict Resolution in the Middle East
    • Domestic Health Policy
    • Drug Policy
    • Energy
    • Entrepreneurship and Economic Growth
    • Global Health
    • Health and Biosciences
    • Human Rights and Refugees
    • International Economics
    • Islam and Politics
    • Latin American Energy
    • Middle East
    • Political Economy of the Arab Gulf
    • Presidential Elections
    • Public Finance
    • Religion and Public Policy
    • Science and Technology
    • Space Policy
    • Texas Politics
    • U.S. and Iran
    • U.S. and Mexico
    • See All Experts
    • Experts in the News
  • Support
    • Join the Baker Roundtable
      Join the Baker Roundtable
      Learn more about the Baker Institute’s membership forum, which supports the mission of the institute and offers members exclusive access to experts and events.
      Read More
      RT
    • Major Gifts
      Major Gifts
      Major gifts provide the funds necessary for the Baker Institute to explore new areas of study and research, and expand current programs.
      Read More
      Wallace S. Wilson meeting with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
    • Endowments
      Endowments
      Endowment gifts provide the Baker Institute with permanent resources that support research programs, fellows and scholars.
      Read More
      Pictured from left are William Martin, Katharine Neill Harris, Ambassador Edward Djerejian, Alfred C. Glassell, III, and Pam Lindberg
    • Planned Giving
      Planned Giving

      Plan a gift that will ensure lasting, meaningful support for policy programs important to you.

       

      Read More
      meeting
    • Corporate Support
      Corporate Support
      Corporations can become involved with the institute in a number of ways and see the benefit from the research conducted by our fellows and scholars.
      Read More
      Wide shot of the Doré Commons during a Shell Distinguished Lecture Series event featuring Wim Thomas
  • About
    • People
      People
      Learn more about the Baker Institute's leadership and get contact information for the administrative staff.
      Read More
      Secretary James A. Baker, III, stands with a portion of the Berlin Wall, outside of Baker Hall
    • Student Opportunities
      Student Opportunities
      Through the internships on campus and beyond, Rice students can explore careers in public policy, or simply become better informed about important issues of the day.
      Read More
      Amb. Edward P. Djerejian speaks with students outside Baker Hall
    • Annual Report
    • Podcast: Baker Briefing
      Podcast: Baker Briefing
      Baker Briefing is a weekly podcast that tackles the most critical foreign and domestic policy issues of the day in conversations with experts at the Baker Institute.
      Read More
      Logo for the Baker Briefing Podcast (Square)
    • Contact
      Contact Us
      Complete a form for event, media or other inquiries, and get directions and parking information for the Baker Institute.
      Read More
      The front of Baker Hall, from across the plaza, with fountain in foreground
  • Contact
  • Research
    • Economics & Finance
      Economics & Finance
      Read More
    • Energy
      Latest Energy Research
      Summary on Latest Energy Research
      Read More
    • Foreign Policy
      Foreign Policy
      Read More
    • Domestic Policy
      Domestic Policy
      Read More
    • Health & Science
      Health & Science
      Read More
    • All Publications
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Economics & Finance
  • Energy
  • Foreign Policy
  • Domestic Policy
  • Health & Science
  • All Publications
Drug Policy | Report

Rx for U.S. Drug Policy: A New Paradigm

June 30, 2015 | William Martin, Jerry Epstein
RX Medicine

Table of Contents

Author(s)

William Martin
Harry and Hazel Chavanne Senior Fellow in Religion and Public Policy | Director, Drug Policy Program
Jerry Epstein
Contributing Expert, Drug Policy Program

Share this Publication

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Linkedin
  • Download PDF
  • Print This Publication

Tags

Baker InstituteUnited StatesImproving drug policyDrug reform

To access the full paper, download the PDF on the left-hand sidebar.

No sensible person doubts that drugs can cause enormous harm. They can ruin lives. They are implicated in a wide range of crimes, and they enrich criminals. Drug trafficking fosters extraordinary brutality, endangers innocent citizens, and undercuts the development and practice of democracy by corrupting public officials in numerous countries, including the United States. That said, there remains considerable disagreement over the nature and extent of drug-related harm, the factors that contribute to its many facets, and the best ways to go about addressing the numerous issues that cluster together under the canopy of “the drug problem.”

For more than a century, beginning with the passing of the Harrison Narcotic Act in 1914, U.S. drug policy has been based on the concept of prohibition, on the desire for a “drug-free America” with “zero tolerance” for drug users, producers, and traffickers. For the last 40 years, it has been known as the War on Drugs. It is truly a war, with all the hallmarks of war: displaced populations, disrupted economies, excessive violence, terrorism, the use of military force, the curtailment of civil liberties, and the demonizing of enemies. And like other wars we have been engaged in over this same period, victory has been elusive.

In the Baker Institute’s Drug Policy Program, we are convinced that U.S. drug policy, as presently designed, is premised on incorrect assumptions, aimed at the wrong targets, and too often unresponsive to human needs and aspirations. Unfortunately, that is not a new insight. In fact, apart from the reference to the Baker Institute, that sentence is a verbatim quote from the 1973 report of the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, appointed by President Richard Nixon, led by former Republican governor of Pennsylvania Raymond P. Shafer, and comprising a blue-ribbon panel of establishment figures chosen mostly by Nixon himself.

On June 17, 1971, Nixon announced that his administration was about to launch a “total war against Public Enemy Number One in the United States—the problem of dangerous drugs.” He did not use the words “War on Drugs,” but he characterized the effort as “a new, all-out offensive.” In a taped conversation with his chief of staff H.R. Haldeman in May, he had said, “I want a goddamn strong statement on marijuana … I mean one on marijuana that just tears the ass out of them. By God, we are going to hit the marijuana thing, and I want to hit it right square in the puss … against legalizing and all that sort of thing.”

Nixon’s plan was foiled by facts. In March 1972, the commission issued a preliminary report, Marihuana, A Signal of Misunderstanding, which declared that “neither the marihuana user nor the drug itself can be said to constitute a danger to public safety” and recommended that Congress and state legislatures decriminalize the use and casual distribution of marijuana and seek means other than prohibition to discourage use. Endorsers of these recommendations included the American Medical Association, the American Bar Association, the American Association for Public Health, the National Education Association, and the National Council of Churches.

Nixon angrily rejected the report and Congress declined to consider its recommendations, but the Shafer Commission pressed on and a year later ISSN 1941-6466 2 issued a second, more comprehensive report, Drug Use in America: Problem in Perspective. Nixon also ignored that one, declaring his intention to ratchet up his “attack on all fronts” in an “all-out war,” and “just kick the hell out of it.” He proposed and Congress approved the creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which merged existing anti-drug agencies into a single federal agency charged with coordinating government drug control actions. Forty years later, the DEA is one of the largest and most powerful agencies in the government, with a worldwide reach.

Since 1973, federal, state, and local governments have spent an estimated $1 trillion on eradication, interdiction, and incarceration. They have destroyed thousands of acres of crops, seized countless tons of contraband, and imprisoned more people than any other country in the world, a disproportionate number of them poor and black. Despite these efforts, illicit drugs continue to be available to meet a remarkably stable demand. As the Shafer Commission observed, “Drug policy can be thus summed up: increased use of disapproved drugs precipitates more spending, more programs, more arrests, and more penalties, all with little positive effect in reducing use of these drugs.”

Because that same statement holds true 40 years later, the NAACP, the US Conference of Mayors, the Latin American and Global Commissions on Drugs and Democracy, the Organization of American States, a growing number of influential think tanks and advocacy groups, and more than 80 percent of Americans regard the War on Drugs as a failure. Still, a century of anti-drug propaganda has shaped a set of convictions that serve as formidable barriers to sensible, humane drug policy, despite clear evidence that the propaganda is fraudulent. Current U.S. drug policy can never succeed. We need a new paradigm. Fortunately, we have the material to construct one.

After its surveys revealed a marked disjunction between public perception and empirical reality, the Shafer Commission urged federal and other levels of government to “maintain and monitor an ongoing collection of data necessary for present and prospective policy planning, including data on incidence, nature, and consequences of drug use.” That recommendation has been well satisfied. Monitoring the Future (MTF), begun in 1975, questions approximately 50,000 teens annually, with follow-ups in later years. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)6 interviews approximately 70,000 people 12 years and older annually. These surveys, which qualify as big data, provide a rich and revealing picture of drug use in America and are consistently confirmed by other surveys. Still, although the information is available to anyone with a computer, few people appear to know the size or actual contours of drug use in this country, and the data play only a small role in public policy, mass media presentations, and popular perception.

 

 

This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s), and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

  • Print This Publication
  • Share
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Email
    • Linkedin

Related Research

Telemedicine
Drug Policy | Commentary

The Drug Enforcement Administration Should Not Erect More Barriers to Care

Read More
Marijuana+Law
Drug Policy | Commentary

317,793 people were arrested for marijuana possession in 2020 despite the growing legalization movement

Read More
A close-up of the Texas Capitol building and the U.S. and Texas flags.
Drug Policy | Testimony

Testimony for Texas House of Representatives, Criminal Justice Reform, Interim Study Committee

Read More
  • Facebook
  • Youtube
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Donate Now
  • Media Inquiries
  • Membership
  • About the Institute
  • Rice.edu
Contact Us

6100 Main Street
Baker Hall MS-40, Suite 120
Houston, TX 77005

Email: bipp@rice.edu
Phone: 713-348-4683
Fax: 713-348-5993

Baker Institute Newsletter

The email newsletter of Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy provides a snapshot of institute news, research and upcoming events.

Sign Up

  • © Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy
  • Web Accessibility
  • Privacy Policy