Even though Nancy Reagan did succeed in increasing the awareness of drugs and drug abuse, it is argued that the war on drugs caused mass incarceration, increasing the jailed from 50,000 to 400,000 in 2 decades. As a result of the Just Say No campaign, more radical approaches were created, such as the DARE drug education program, founded by Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl Gates whose ideology was that drug users should be executed. Also, a year after the public awareness of drugs peaked at 64%, people became disinterest and this number dropped to 10%.
The Just Say No campaign did temporarily achieve its goal of drug awareness, but the hysteria that came with this campaign prevented true policies for the war on drugs to be formed. These policies would be started in the 21st century, far past the Reagans' take on the war. Even today, the process of drug policies is slow, as the country's perspective of the war on drugs is split, but it is much more logical than the no-tolerance programs during the Reagans' period.
How did the Just Say No campaign change current society's take of the war on drugs?
Source:
http://www.drugpolicy.org/facts/new-solutions-drug-policy/brief-history-drug-war-0
http://www.ontheissues.org/Celeb/Ronald_Reagan_Drugs.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_Say_No
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/08/nancy-reagan-drugs-just-say-no-dare-program-opioid-epidemic
http://politrixie.blogspot.com/2015_01_01_archive.html
I found your post very interesting. I thought it was great how you not only talked about Nancy Reagan's goals for her organization, but you also talked about the negative and positive effects of her actions. As you mentioned, mass incarceration is actually a very serious problem, even today. Since the 1980's, prison population has quadrupled. The US, being 5% of the worlds population makes up for 22% of the worlds prison population.
ReplyDeleteRead more about it here:
http://www.amnestyusa.org/our-work/issues/military-police-and-arms/police-and-human-rights/mass-incarceration-in-the-usa
Interesting post about the Just Say No campaign. I appreciate that you showed the effects of the campaign today – the process to get drugs legalized today is definitely a slow process. It's intriguing to see how this campaign has affected people's perception of drugs today, even though some drugs are known to have medical benefits. What kinds of negative impacts have been caused by the Just Say No campaign? For more information, go to: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/08/nancy-reagan-drugs-just-say-no-dare-program-opioid-epidemic
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post, we don't cover drugs much in class but it is a significant part of US History. I would like to know how the "Just Say No" campaign increased incarcerations and the drug war? It's also interesting how DARE started as a federal program with radical ideas. It's cool how the issue of drugs is still being discussed today.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post! I really liked the detail about the campaign crossing to the United Kingdom, and started to wonder how that happened. I did some research, and it turns out that it was popularized by a BBC campaign called "Drugwatch," which centered on a heroin-addiction storyline on the British show "Grange Hill." Its interesting how effective TV is at spreading a message.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how effective the Just Say No campaign is in today's society after reading through your post. I think that the effort to prevent drug intake has lowered over the years while the protest to legalize marijuana and other addictive drugs rise. This may be a cause to the ineffectiveness of the Just Say No Campaign in today's world.
ReplyDelete