Reagan
The presidency of Ronald Reagan, from 1981 to 1989, had significant impacts on police and law enforcement agencies. In an attempt to set himself up as "tough on crime," President Reagan called for the expansion of the US legal code, including dozens of laws that would greatly increase the powers and jurisdiction of police and law enforcement. He also attempted to increase the number of crimes for which judges could deny bail and brought in the FBI to handle drug cases and help enforce drug laws. According to American journalist Radley Balko, the war on drugs in America propelled by Reagan’s presidency was an attempt to “turn the country’s drug cops in holy soldiers.” Reagan stood strongly in favor of criminalization of all recreationally used drugs, but particularly urged greater police oversight into the issue of smoking marijuana, seen as a gateway drug.
Various statutes were enacted over the course of Reagan's presidency militarizing police involvement in drug policing. In 1981 Congress passed the Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Act, virtually eliminating the barriers between police and military. Law enforcement could now be equipped, trained and receive military intelligence in the efforts of the war on drugs. In 1984, Congress passed an act allowing the National Guard to aid the efforts with helicopter patrols under the Campaign Against Marijuana Production. Reagan designated drugs a threat to public security, and in 1987 a toll-free phone number was created for law-enforcement to call on military aid in the efforts against drugs.
Though the term was actually coined by former President Nixon, Reagan adopted the phrase “War on Drugs” to establish what was to become the United State’s strict drug law system. In her book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” litigator Michelle Alexander argues that President Reagan’s goal in the War on Drugs was to take a more militant stance on drug abuse and use. He was criticized particularly for a bill passed in 1986, which increased funding for anti-drug campaigns but also led to a disproportionality in prison race statistics. His wife, First Lady Reagan, was the face of the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign popularized in primary schools across the country. Thus, the Reagan presidency was marked by both a militant approach to police work, and a heightened focus on the War on Drugs.
Various statutes were enacted over the course of Reagan's presidency militarizing police involvement in drug policing. In 1981 Congress passed the Military Cooperation with Law Enforcement Act, virtually eliminating the barriers between police and military. Law enforcement could now be equipped, trained and receive military intelligence in the efforts of the war on drugs. In 1984, Congress passed an act allowing the National Guard to aid the efforts with helicopter patrols under the Campaign Against Marijuana Production. Reagan designated drugs a threat to public security, and in 1987 a toll-free phone number was created for law-enforcement to call on military aid in the efforts against drugs.
Though the term was actually coined by former President Nixon, Reagan adopted the phrase “War on Drugs” to establish what was to become the United State’s strict drug law system. In her book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” litigator Michelle Alexander argues that President Reagan’s goal in the War on Drugs was to take a more militant stance on drug abuse and use. He was criticized particularly for a bill passed in 1986, which increased funding for anti-drug campaigns but also led to a disproportionality in prison race statistics. His wife, First Lady Reagan, was the face of the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign popularized in primary schools across the country. Thus, the Reagan presidency was marked by both a militant approach to police work, and a heightened focus on the War on Drugs.