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Drug Policy
An estimated 14.8 million Americans (or 6.7 percent of the population 12 years old and older) were users of illegal drugs at any given time in 1999, according to a recent survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA). Approximately 78 million Americans aged 12 or older (36 percent) reported using illicit drugs at least once in their lifetime, according to a preliminary 1998 SAMSA report.
Overall drug use trends were relatively stable in 1999 compared to the year before, but rates of drug use have dropped to roughly half the levels of the late 1970s.
According to the 1999 SAMSA National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA):
- Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. It is used by 75 percent of current illicit drug users.
- About 10.4 million persons 12 to 20 years of age reported drinking alcohol in the month prior to the survey interview in 1999 (29.4 percent of this age group). Of these, 6.8 million (20.2 percent) were binge drinkers and 2.1 million (6.0 percent) were heavy drinkers.
- The rates of current illicit drug use for major racial/ethnic groups were 6.6 percent for whites, 6.8 percent for Hispanics, and 7.7 percent for blacks. The rate was highest among the American Indian/Alaska Native population (10.6 percent) and among persons reporting multiple race (11.2 percent). Asians had the lowest rate (3.2 percent).
- In 1999 an estimated 3.6 million Americans (1.6 percent of the total population age 12 and older) were dependent on illicit drugs. An estimated 8.2 million Americans were dependent on alcohol (3.7 percent). Of these, 1.5 million people were dependent on both alcohol and illicit drugs. Overall, an estimated 10.3 million people were dependent on either alcohol or illicit drugs (4.7 percent).
- An estimated 2.8 million people (1.3 percent of the population age 12 and older) received some kind of drug or alcohol treatment in the 12 months prior to being interviewed in 1999. Of this group, 1.6 million (0.7 percent) received treatment for illicit drugs, and 2.3 million (1.0 percent) received treatment for alcohol.
Despite generally declining rates of drug use over the past two decades, drug arrests have been up significantly over the same time period. According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, roughly 1,532,200 drug violation arrests were made in 1999, up from 580,900 in 1980.
These arrests have resulted in a dramatic increase in prison and jail populations. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, an estimated 109,200 people were held in jails due to drug-related offenses in 1996, compared to 20,400 in 1983. About 236,800 people were held in state prisons for drug-related offenses in 1998, compared to 148,600 in 1990.
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- Political Magazines: The Almanac's links to political and public policy magazine sites.
- Public Policy Jobs: Sites listing public policy, lobbying, and media jobs in government and at major national organizations.
- Questia: Search over 400,000 books and journals at Questia online.
- Open Directory - Health: Addictions: Substance Abuse
- Open Directory - Illegal Drugs: Links on illegal drugs from the Open Directory Project.
- Yahoo - Drug Policy: Sites on drug policy from Yahoo.
- Customs Service
- Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA): DEA home page.
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime: The UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention web site provides information on drug control and crime prevention. Specific topics include drug abuse and demand reduction; drug supply reduction; crime prevention and criminal justice; treaty and legal affairs, analysis and statistics; news and publications; and links to 22 UNODC field offices.
- White House: Office of National Drug Control Policy: Features White House Drug Policy initiatives, programs, and resources. Find the Drug Czar's speeches, testimony and press releases. Outlines National Drug Control Strategy goals and objectives.
- Center for Substance Abuse Prevention: CSAP is the sole federal organization with responsibility for improving accessibility and quality of substance abuse prevention services.
- Common Sense for Drug Policy: Common Sense for Drug Policy is a research/educational nonprofit working to promote discussion of alternatives to the US drug war.
- Drug Abuse Statistics: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration presents national and state prevalence and trends in illegal drug use, the nonmedical use of prescription drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.
- Drug Reform Coordination Network: The Drug Reform Coordination Network is the central Internet resource for drug reform activism. Learn why prohibition is a failure, and what you can do to help end the disastrous Drug War.
- Drug Sense: Drug Policy Reform
- Drug War (Cato Institute)
- FrontLine: Drug Wars: Frontline reports on America's war on illegal drugs, examining the drug policies, drug warriors and the global illegal drugs business. Through interviews with DEA agents, drug lords, drug smugglers and drug users, the four hour documentary traces the history of America's drug war and the social and political forces that shape it.
- Illegal Drug Use Statistics: Information on the use and abuse of illegal drugs in the United States. Provided by the National Center for Health Statistics.
- Join Together Online: A resource center for communities working to reduce substance abuse and the promotion of gun control.
- MEDLINEplus - Drug Abuse: Resource that provides links to a wide range of substance abuse resources, provided by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- National Association of Drug Court Professionals and National Drug Court Institute
- National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University: Think tank that focuses on the study of all forms of substance abuse, and how it affects society.
- National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information: Resource for current and comprehensive information about substance abuse prevention and treatment.
- National Drug Strategy Network
- Students for Sensible Drug Policy: Students for Sensible Drug Policy is committed to providing education on harms caused by the War on Drugs, working to involve youth in the political process, and promoting an open, honest, and rational discussion of alternative solutions to our nation's drug problems.
- UN Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention - World Drug Report 20004: Provides a comprehensive explanation of the development of the international drug problem and the important progress that has been made in recent years in the fight against it. Using maps, charts, graphs and tables, the report offers a complete picture of the extent of the global drug problem.
- Drug Trafficking in the United States (Drug Enforcement Administration: Added May 2004)
- National Drug Control Strategy, 2004 (White House Office of National Drug Control Policy: March, 2004)
- Marijuana (White House Office of National Drug Control Policy: February, 2004)
- Crack Cocaine (White House Office of National Drug Control Policy: June 2003)
- Heroin (White House Office of National Drug Control Policy: June 2003)
- Drug Control: International Policy and Options (Congressional Research Service: October 16, 2002)
- Drug Use Trends (White House Office of National Drug Control Policy: October 2002)
- Drug Abuse in America: 2001 (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: September 5, 2002)
- Possible Medical Uses of Marijuana (Department of Health and Human Services: May 15, 2002)
- Substance Abuse - A National Challenge (Department of Health and Human Services: February 27, 2002)
- Drug Related Crime (White House Office of National Drug Control Policy: March 2000)
- Alcohol Prohibition Was a Failure: Cato Institute paper reviewing alcohol prohibition that touches on the comparison with modern drug prohibition.
- Change the Climate: A pro-legalization site about marijuana, pot, hemp, drug reform, medical marijuana, and the war on drugs.
- Consumer's Union Report on Illicit and Licit Drugs: 1972 report by publishers of Consumer Reports. Extremely detailed with extensive policy recommendations.
- Has the War on Drugs Been Lost?: William F. Buckley, one of the most respected Conservatives in the world and editor of National Review, dedicates an entire issue to the question of whether the drug war does more harm than good.
- Milton Friedman on the Drug War: Articles by this Nobel Laureate and conservative.
- Overview of US Drug Policy (NewsBatch.com)
- Statistics on Drugs and Crime (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
- War on (Certain) Drugs: Noam Chomsky argues that the U.S. government is scandalously cynical in launching a 'War on Drugs' while, at the same time, supporting other dangers.