Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The drug policy in the United States is the activity of the federal government relating to the regulation of drugs. Starting in the early 1900s, the United States government began enforcing drug policies. These policies criminalized drugs such as opium, morphine, heroin, and cocaine outside of medical use.
In 2001, more Hispanics received sentences for crimes relating to powder cocaine than any other ethnicity while more African Americans were convicted of crimes relating to crack cocaine in the United States. Although cocaine use had not significantly changed over the six years prior to 1999, the number of first-time users went up from 574,000 ...
Coca eradication in Colombia. Coca eradication is a strategy promoted by the United States government starting in 1961 as part of its "war on drugs" to eliminate the cultivation of coca, a plant whose leaves are not only traditionally used by indigenous cultures but also, in modern society, in the manufacture of cocaine.
Most cocaine is grown and processed in South America, particularly in Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, and smuggled into the United States and Europe, the United States being the world's largest consumer of cocaine, [164] where it is sold at huge markups; usually in the US at $80–120 for 1 gram, and $250–300 for 3.5 grams ( 1 / 8 of an ounce ...
The US federal government is an opponent of the illegal drug trade; however, state laws vary greatly and in some cases contradict federal laws. The Organization of American States estimated that the revenue for cocaine sales in the US was $34 billion in 2013.
Traffickers of cocaine are sentenced with jail. Personal use is punished with a fine, contrary to common belief possession of up to 18 grams is not legal. According to a recent study, 5 Swiss cities (St Gallen, Bern, Zurich, Basel and Geneva) were listed among top 10 European cities for cocaine use.
The first Drug court in the United States took shape in Miami-Dade County, Florida in 1989 as a response to the growing crack-cocaine usage in the city. Chief Judge Gerald Wetherington, Judge Herbert Klein, then State Attorney Janet Reno and Public Defender Bennett Brummer designed the court for nonviolent offenders to receive treatment.
In February 2005, a research company hired by the office and the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that the government's ad campaign aimed at dissuading teens from using marijuana, a campaign that cost $1.4 billion between 1998 and 2006, did not work: "greater exposure to the campaign was associated with weaker anti-drug norms and ...