10. Reagan’s actions in the War on Drugs altered public opinion
When the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 passed through Congress, it gave the federal government $1.7 billion to conduct the War on Drugs. It also created 29 new minimum sentences for drug offenses. Crack became a major feature of news magazines and newspapers, and the Reagan Administration directed the Drug Enforcement Administration to keep the drug and information about its dangers in the public eye. Reagan’s wife, Nancy, contributed with a campaign aimed at schoolchildren which she called Just Say No. The DEA reinforced the idea that crack was potentially more addictive than powder cocaine and that it was the single greatest factor in crime in black communities. Murder rates in many black communities in most American cities skyrocketed. America’s demand for cocaine showed no sign of abating throughout the 1980s.
The demand for cocaine led to the power of the cocaine cartels in South America. By 2011 Colombia was the world’s largest producer of cocaine, most of it illegally, and the United States was the world’s largest consumer, again, most of it illegally. The United States government’s efforts to reduce the production of cocaine in Colombia and other nations took place through the use of the DEA, the FBI, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Navy, military special forces, the CIA, and numerous other entities. Under several presidents the United States has taken action which included military action to interdict the supply of illegal drugs into the United States as part of the War on Drugs, with different levels of success. In some cases, the states have taken initiatives of their own, mostly in the area of mandatory sentences for both users and suppliers.