Congress and the War on Drugs: An Exercise in Symbolic Politics

• NCJ Number: 139408
• Journal: Journal of Crime and Justice Volume: 15 Issue: 1 Dated: (1992) Pages: 119- 136
• Author(s): B A Stolz
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 18 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier draft of this article was presented at the American Society of Criminology Conference, November 9, 1990, in Baltimore, Md.

Annotation

This article examines how the initiation, enactment, and specific provisions of recent Federal anti-drug and anti-crime legislation were affected by Congress' need to send certain symbolic political messages to the electorate.

Abstract

The passage of anti-drug/anti-crime legislation has apparently become an election year tradition of the U.S. Congress. On the eve of adjournment, the 99th and 100th Congresses enacted omnibus anti-drug legislation, which created new programs, significantly increased Federal funding for anti-drug programs, and mandated additional criminal sanctions for drug-related crimes. This analysis of the policymaking process behind such congressional behavior focuses on the enactment of the Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of 1986 and 1988. The author concludes that this legislation was intended to reassure the public that the Nation's drug problem was under control, to communicate an anti-drug message to law-abiding citizens, and to provide model laws and programs for the States. Although the enactment of the 1986 and 1988 anti-drug legislation, as well as the 1984 and 1990 anti-crime bills, suggests that Congress is responding to public concerns about drug abuse and crime, there apparently was little time or opportunity for the Congress to assess the substantive merits of the provisions of the legislation. Available congressional documents say little about the impact of alternative policies in terms of their cost and proven effectiveness. The costs of the systems created to address drugs and crime in America continue to escalate, but the public and even the Congress have not seriously considered whether the laws designed to address the drug and crime problems are achieving their intended results. The future of Congress as an institution must rest on its ability to conduct insightful analyses of the Nation's problems and devise legislation and policies that will effectively mitigate or resolve those problems. 14 references