“The War on People” (2021-2022)
Of all the steps of the writing process, it is often the very first one that is most daunting to me: research. Reading sources and narrowing down the countless ideas in my head to a single topic feels restrictive and prematurely binding. Yet when it came to finding a current controversy, discussing the various sides to it, and exploring the resulting implications, it quickly became clear that drug policy was what I wanted to discuss.
Having hands-on experience in the field of addiction medicine through both clinical research and personal interactions with patients inspired me to discuss drug policy and the psychological underpinnings of addiction. I knew that writing about this topic would not only satisfy my curiosity but prove to be relevant and impactful to discuss.
At first, I wanted to focus on the impact of decriminalization on public health. Yet when researching the United States’ 1971 War on Drugs campaign, I realized that the issue was far more complex than simply reporting the number of overdoses. Much of the research I came across exposed not only how ineffective current policy is, but also that it disproportionately targets minority groups and ostracizes those with addiction.
With this new insight, I shifted my focus to explore addiction stigma. Through additional research, I realized that stigma was not a mere byproduct of ineffective policy, but its very purpose. As Nixon’s domestic policy adviser John Ehrlichman stated in 1994: “We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news.”
Reflecting on the ignorant sentiments that have laid the foundation of current drug policy, it became clear that decimalization was the topic I wanted to write about. Through hours of research, I was able to add nuance to my understanding of drug policy and addiction. Through countless drafts, revisions, and now this publication, I hope to share this newly synthesized perspective with the reader.
Devarshi Vasa (CAS ’22) grew up in Paramus, New Jersey, and studies psychology at the College of Arts and Science. As a pre-medical student, Devarshi began to volunteer at the Neuropsychoimaging of Addiction and Related Conditions Lab, where he assists patients suffering from cocaine and heroin addictions. After noticing both the emotional and physical struggles these patients endure, he became interested in the policies surrounding drug reform and addiction medicine. His essay discusses the recent movement towards drug decriminalization and how this process, while controversial, may help redress the harms caused by decades of ineffective drug policy.