Wars on Drugs are Never Wars on Drugs

News emerged over the Thanksgiving holiday that, in September, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth may have ordered a second strike on two survivors of a boat alleged to be carrying drugs in the Caribbean Sea. 

The initial strike was part of escalating tensions against what the Trump administration claims are Venezuelan cartels smuggling illicit drugs into the United States. A second strike to kill any survivors of an initial attack, according to numerous legal experts, would constitute a war crime.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro claims the broader campaign is designed to remove him from office.

The news comes amid President Trump’s threats to initiate an air and ground missions in Venezuela. He issued an announcement to airlines over the weekend that the airspace of the South American country should be considered closed. The social media post was made the day after Trump announced his intention to pardon former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who, in 2024, was convicted of drug trafficking.

With this story poised to take center stage, it is essential to remember two realities of wars on drugs: They don’t work, and they are never actually wars on drugs.

Ineffective Measures

The term “war on drugs” emerged in the 1970s after President Nixon declared drug abuse “public enemy number one.” Although Nixon’s public statements focused heavily on prevention and recovery, it was the law enforcement aspects of his efforts that took root and have been the centerpiece of U.S. drug policy ever since.

The “war” escalated in the 1980s, with a special focus from President Reagan and his wife, Nancy. The First Lady became the face of drug-fighting efforts, but it was President Reagan’s actions that have shaped the campaign for almost 40 years.

In 1986, Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which shifted almost all efforts to curtail drug misuse from rehabilitation to punishment. Incarceration for drug misuse skyrocketed after the legislation, which included mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenders.

The “war on drugs” that began with Nixon and was heightened during the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations has been proven to be an unmitigated disaster.

A 2016 report revealed that the war on drugs and zero-tolerance policies were detrimental to global public health. “The goal of prohibiting all use, possession, production, and trafficking of illicit drugs is the basis of many of our national drug laws,” according to Chris Beyrer, a member of the Johns Hopkins–Lancet commission that produced the report. “[B]ut these policies are based on ideas about drug use and drug dependence that are not scientifically grounded.”

Regarding military and diplomatic efforts to stop the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S., a 1997 Government Accountability Office report found that “despite long-standing efforts and expenditures of billions of dollars, illegal drugs still flood the United States.” The report noted the failure of these efforts due to the sophistication and adaptability of drug-smuggling rings. “As success is achieved in one area,” the report stated, “the drug-trafficking organizations change tactics, thwarting U.S. efforts.”

Smoke and Mirrors

Perhaps the primary reason for the failure of the war on drugs is that drugs are usually a proxy for what or, more importantly, who we are fighting. Racial disparities in drug sentencing have been widely documented. 

The 1986 anti-drug legislation mandated a minimum five-year sentence for possession of just five grams of crack cocaine. For cocaine in powder form, the same five-year sentence applied only to those possessing 500 grams.

In the 1980s and ’90s, crack was more prevalent in urban Black communities, while powder cocaine circulated more commonly in suburban white communities. Both communities had similar usage and addiction rates. 

But the sentencing disparities between two forms of the same drug meant that an entire generation of young Black men spent their formative years behind bars for possessing 1% of what it took to send a young white offender away, if they were convicted at all.

U.S. wars on drugs are never wars on drugs.

The latest iteration of the war appears to be the same song, different verse.

Trump campaigned in 2024 on stopping the flow of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is exponentially more dangerous than cocaine. According to most reputable sources, virtually no fentanyl comes into the U.S. from Venezuela. The primary source of fentanyl, which results in high rates of overdose deaths, comes from China through Mexico.

What does, however, flow out of Venezuela in abundance is oil, natural gas, and rare-earth minerals.

U.S. wars on drugs are never wars on drugs.

Effective Strategies for Reducing Harmful Drug Misuse

The 2016 Johns Hopkins–Lancet report called for significant reform of drug policies. These included decriminalizing minor and nonviolent use of drugs, reducing violent drug policing, and increasing access to medications that can reduce the prevalence of overdose deaths. Most significantly, it encouraged greater investments in services available to drug users.

Although there has yet to be significant movement to decriminalize nonviolent and minor drug use, the Biden administration set the U.S. on course to embrace a shift in public-health strategy to reduce drug overdose deaths. The 2022 National Drug Control Strategy embraced harm reduction and evidence-based support initiatives.

As people of faith, it is imperative that we not just name the smoke and mirrors Donald Trump is using in his proxy wars and call out the ways it further stigmatizes people who struggle with substance use and misuse disorders. We need to contend with the reality that much of the opioid crisis in our country is the result of crony capitalism, requiring the bodily, back-breaking sacrifice of the working class for the benefit of the few.

When the demand dries up, so will the supply.

We must boldly advocate for strategies rooted in evidence and in the love for our neighbors that Jesus calls us to.