Blaming drugs for societal problems gives bureaucrats to blame away from themselves because: 1) the opposition to such policies gives them someone else to blame if the anti-drug policies fail, 2) there are so many possible solutions that, when the policy fails, they can claim that a) they favored a slightly different solution than what was implemented, or b) other people (police, judges, etc.) failed to do do their part of the job in upholding the policy

The Benefit to Bureaucrats of Blaming Drugs

The "War on Drugs" has two major benefits to police: 
- 1) Drug statistics give them an easy way of appearing effective, 
- 2) The property and monetary seizures allow them to reap a sin tax.

The Benefit to Police of a War on Drugs

The trend of law enforcement lying (or, at least, exaggerating) about the effects of drugs has continued. Due to information spread by law enforcement in the early 1980s, people came to believe that drugs are the source of most societal problems.

University of Oklahoma

The Bureau of Narcotics was responsible for gross misrepresentation of the effects of consuming marijuana back in the 1930s, as they were trying to get the Marijuana Tax Act (1937) passed. Marijuana was alleged to cause insanity and criminal behavior, including rate and other violent crimes. 

Historic Misinformation Spread by Law enforcement

Benson, Bruce & RASMUSSEN, DAVID. (1996). Predatory Public Finance and the Origins of the War on Drugs. The Independent Review. I. 

Learn Before

Related

Learn After