~~ recommended by collectivist action ~~
The flood of destabilizing and repressive changes that are being proposed and/or enacted under our new federal administration has been flowing so heavily and quickly that it can be easy to get lost in the weeds and lose track of the cumulative impact. To help us think through the implications of this moment, I offer this account of the war on drugs. We should never forget that this faux “war” began as the means by which the Nixon administration could consolidate its base and target its perceived enemies that had a deluge of other consequences that were normalized to most U.S. residents over time. Never forget; always be diligent.
Origins and Political Motivations of the War on Drugs
Nixon Administration's Core Objectives
Target and disrupt Black communities and the political left
Create mechanisms for mass surveillance and control
Criminalize political opposition
Build a "law and order" political narrative
Generate support from white voters by inciting racial fears through a combination of explicit and coded racist messaging
Confirmed by Nixon aide John Ehrlichman:
"The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and Black people... 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."
Structural Implementation
Legal Framework Creation
Institutional Development
Creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Military equipment allocation to police
Expansion of prison construction
Development of new surveillance systems
Formation of cross-agency task forces
Political Narrative Building
"Tough on crime" rhetoric
Racialized drug panic
Media cooperation in shaping public perception
Framing drug use as a public health crisis
Anti-urban discourse reinforcing criminalization
Impact on Civil Liberties
Fourth Amendment Erosion
Warrantless searches normalized
"Probable cause" standard weakened
Expansion of stop-and-frisk policies
Asset forfeiture allowed without conviction
Public acceptance of mass surveillance
Due Process Reduction
Increased reliance on plea bargains
Limited trial rights
Expansion of civil forfeiture
Reduction of legal representation
Growth of administrative punishments
First Amendment Impacts
Surveillance of political groups
Restrictions on freedom of association
Limitations on protest and assembly rights
Intimidation of journalists and activists
Mass Incarceration Development
System Building
Prison construction boom
Rise of the private prison industry
Implementation of extended sentences
Reduced parole opportunities
Introduction of "three strikes" laws
Population Targeting
Racial profiling as an enforcement strategy
Class-based disparities in sentencing
Focus on urban communities
Criminalization of youth, especially Black and Latino boys
Expansion of immigration enforcement under drug war policies
Community Impact
Family disruption due to incarceration
Economic devastation in targeted communities
Political disenfranchisement of felons
Intergenerational trauma and instability
Breakdown of community structures
Contemporary Legacy
Surveillance State
Normalization of mass monitoring
Development of extensive databases
Erosion of privacy expectations
Integration of technology into policing
Expansion of corporate surveillance partnerships
Police Militarization
Increased access to military-grade equipment
Tactical training for domestic policing
Proliferation of SWAT deployments
"Warrior mentality" in policing culture
Rise of aggressive enforcement tactics
Civil Rights Reduction
Racial profiling normalized in law enforcement
Expansion of privacy restrictions
Increased assembly restrictions
Further constraints on free speech
Continued erosion of due process
Criminal Justice Transformation
Over-reliance on mass incarceration
Plea bargaining as the dominant legal outcome
Limited judicial review of sentencing
Increased prosecutorial power
Reduction of defense rights
The War on Drugs as a Framework for Future Policies
Post-9/11 Security State
Pre-existing drug war surveillance systems repurposed
Legal precedents used to justify security expansions
Public acceptance of broad government monitoring
Strengthened institutional frameworks for repression
Enhanced cross-agency cooperation in surveillance
Immigration Enforcement
Detention facilities adapted for mass deportation
Drug war legal tools used against immigrants
Limited due process for non-citizens
Family separations justified under "security" rhetoric
Expansion of mass surveillance at the border
Political Repression
Increased militarization in protest responses
Targeting of activist leaders and organizations
Use of infiltration and surveillance against movements
Media control through selective narratives
Criminalization of dissent under the guise of security
Key Legal Precedents and Their Impact
Terry v. Ohio (1968)
Allowed police to stop and frisk with only "reasonable suspicion"
Created the legal basis for widespread street stops
Led to systematic racial profiling
Enabled New York City's stop-and-frisk program, which disproportionately targeted Black and Latino men
Illinois v. Gates (1983)
Weakened probable cause requirements for search warrants
Established "totality of circumstances" test
Made obtaining drug-related warrants easier
Increased reliance on informants and unverified tips
Whren v. United States (1996)
Validated pretextual traffic stops
Allowed racial profiling if an "objective" reason exists
Expanded police discretion in stops and searches
Created a legal framework for discriminatory enforcement
Specific Programs and Their Effects
Operation Pipeline (1984)
DEA-trained police in pretextual stops
Developed "drug courier profiles," often based on race
Trained over 25,000 officers nationwide
Institutionalized racial profiling in traffic stops
DARE Program
School-based drug prevention program
Created a normalized police presence in schools
Contributed to the school-to-prison pipeline
Promoted surveillance of youth under the guise of education
High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Program
Provided federal funding to local police departments
Encouraged militarized policing tactics
Increased surveillance capabilities
Promoted the creation of multi-agency task forces
Institutional Transformations and Community Impacts
Police Militarization
Pentagon's 1033 Program transferred military weapons to police
SWAT teams increased from 500 (1970) to 50,000+ (2000s)
Routine use of military tactics in domestic law enforcement
Increase in no-knock raids
Prison Expansion
Federal prison population grew 800% (1980–2000)
Private prison industry emerged as a major economic force
Rural prison construction became an economic development tool
Creation of supermax facilities with extreme isolation policies
Political Consequences
Felony disenfranchisement expanded, excluding 6 million voters by 2016
Surveillance and infiltration of activist movements
Criminalization of protest and political organizing
Sensationalized media coverage reinforced racialized narratives
Final Takeaways
The War on Drugs functioned as:
A template for social control
A Trojan Horse of repressive social policies
A model for surveillance expansion
A framework for political repression
A tool for racial and economic oppression
A machine for mass incarceration
Understanding this history is critical to understanding the roots of contemporary police militarization, mass surveillance, systemic racism, and political repression, and to developing our ability to see the long-term consequences of the authoritarian agenda today. Both the structures of power and accountability, and our collective consciousness as a national community is being transformed. Obedience in advance cedes ground to authoritarianism, and the more political and social “ground” that the authoritarians control, the easier it will be for them to normalize increasingly authoritarian and repressive regimes.
Addendum
When we hear the term “mass incarceration” we should understand it in context. The United States leads the world in incarceration, with over 1.9 million people behind bars—more than any other country. With just 4% of the global population, the U.S. holds nearly 20% of the world’s prisoners.
In 1971, when the war on drugs was initiated, the total number of incarcerated individuals in the United States was approximately 330,000. This figure includes individuals held in federal and state prisons, as well as local jails. At that time, the incarceration rate was about 161 per 100,000 residents. Today, the U.S. incarceration rate is 683 per 100,000 residents.
Economic Costs & Policy Priorities
$80+ billion annually in direct costs to taxpayers, not counting lost productivity and social costs.
Funding for policing and prisons has ballooned by 300%+ since the 1980s, while social safety net programs—housing, education, healthcare—have faced cuts or stagnation.
Some states now spend more on prisons than higher education.
Racial & Social Disparities
Black Americans are incarcerated at 5 times the rate of white Americans; Latinos at 1.3 times the rate.
One in three Black men born today can expect to be incarcerated in their lifetime under current policies.
Tough-on-crime policies, drug laws, and mandatory minimums disproportionately target Black and brown communities, fueling intergenerational poverty and disenfranchisement.
The Bigger Picture
Mass incarceration is not just a crime policy—it’s a political tool that redirects resources from communities to control them, exacerbating inequality while failing to make society safer.
