Analyzing motivations: The War on Drugs
In 1971, Richard Nixon introduced the War on Drugs, a campaign that he said was dedicated to “the prevention of new addicts, and the rehabilitation of those who are addicted.” Since then, the federal and state governments have dedicated more than one trillion dollars to arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating people accused of drug crimes. In 1994, when President Nixon’s chief domestic policy advisor was asked about the War on Drugs, he explained:
“We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”
Provide students with the linked articles and facilitate a discussion with the following questions:
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Why is it important to question the motives of public officials when they announce a new policy?
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What could journalists have done to further investigate the stated motives of the War on Drugs?
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What are some specific strategies or questions journalists could use to uncover any unstated motivations behind current criminal legal policies?