The Use of Cocaine in the War on Drugs

The two decades of 1980 to 2000 has experienced a long hauled war of the US administration to control the menace of drugs throughout the country. The federal US Government had initiated a full-scale deterrence against the illegal drug trade and usage and the governmental agencies, the US military, and various other state mechanisms were used. The term “war on drugs” was popularized and used repeatedly by the media.

The term used in this essay is Cocaine, the decade selected is 1980 to 1990, and the database selected is New York Times newspaper.

Initial researches reveal that the term Cocaine repeatedly made its appearance in the New York times newspaper, specifically in the reports that mentioned the successes and failures of the federal government in its “war against drugs”. There were repeated incidents of cocaine seizure, arrests related to cocaine and similar other occurrences which were reported in the newspaper, therefore it was used multiple times.

In a report in 30^th April 1989 it was reported that 30 people were indicted and punished for smuggling of a shocking 44000 pounds of cocaine in small aircrafts. The amount of the cocaine was more than $1 billion (Bain 1989). There were four important chiefs who controlled the cocaine menace who were supposed to be the people behind 80% of cocaine smuggling in USA. Earlier in 1988 it was reported in the newspaper about an incident where three dead bodies were found of police officers killed by the “drug lords”. This and many other incidents prove how the problem of drugs and people controlling the trade are proving to be deadly for America. The cartel behind this was led by “Jorge Luis Ochoa Vasquez, Pablo Escobar Gaviria and Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha” (Kerr 1988). There were indeed some positive results of the efforts taken up by the federal government and in 1984 some of the members of some infamous cartel voluntarily surrendered. “David A. Kennedy surrendered voluntarily to the authorities in Florida yesterday” the report mentioned. David Kennedy was nephew of president John F Kennedy which further increased the importance of the surrender (Raab 1984).

Several important people including the senators also took up the cause of writing in the newspapers to aware the general populace about the menace that is cocaine. How a college boy who was wealthy enough and had access to personal boats and planes, ruined his life by injecting himself with cocaine in the bathroom “every 15 minutes for six to eight hours at a time” was stated in an article to show the critical situation where drugs can take an individual (Goodman 1984). Cocaine over dosage had caused many deaths including the deaths of many promising players and celebrities. The death of the player Don Rogers in 1986 was caused by cocaine and the “Sacramento County Coroner’s office” officially declared the cause of the death (Cummings 1986). In 1988 more such deaths were seen to be happening and footballer Rico Marshall was one of the deceased (Nytimes.com 1988). In 1986 reports about the Custom department of USA seizing 1000 pounds of cocaine and arresting eight men gave a major boost to the fight against cocaine of the federal government. $12 million of worth, the cocaine carried, were seized along with some vehicles from a sports fishing boat (Nytimes.com 1988). In a similar report it was stated that agents of the drug control department seized 2000 pounds of cocaine in a similar heist from a boat, the cocaine was stuffed in 30 duffle bags (Nytimes.com 1985). In the same year in an opinion piece it was suggested that the school children are also not safe from this dangerous drugs and needs to be protected from getting addicted (Schanberg 1985). However, there were a section of the population that actually defended the usage of cocaine in medical purposes. Dr. Milton Reder was one such physician who used cocaine to treat pain (Lee 1989).

The New York Times and Cocaine Coverage

This decade between 1980 to 1990 experienced a great number of cocaine seizures and arrests. Nine men were arrested by the police who were trying to unload a 237 pound assignment of cocaine from a freighter (Nytimes.com 1984). Four people associated with the drug curtail who were Mexican were arrested and about 1500 pounds of cocaine was seized in a major success of the police in the “war against drugs” (Nytimes.com 1988). However the seizure of the “finished cocaine” in the largest amount was done in 1981 which amounted to 826 pounds along with the arrests of two men from Miami “Alberto Joaquin Cordero, 50 years old, and Angel E. Alvarez, 43” (Nytimes.com 1981). The particular newspaper published several articles to aware the public about the ill effects of cocaine so that they may remain safe and not indulge in consumption of the drug. The American Journal of Psychiatry was quoted as saying that cocaine may cause several severe damages including death at critical level of usage (Nytimes.com 1986).

In the next decade the police and the federal government successfully busted many of the drug curtails and seized tones of cocaine. It was found that people from all kinds of backgrounds were involving in drug trafficking. James E. White had been the pioneer from his section to be called “monsignor”, had served in the exceedingly unmistakable post of partner minister at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and had even worked quickly on the individual staff of John Cardinal O’Connor. He was later arrested for dealing with cocaine (Risen 1998). One of the three men who ruled Haiti from 1991 to 1994 was arraigned in Miami on charges that he snuck 66,000 pounds of Colombian cocaine and heroin into the United States. As an individual from the degenerate and savage Haitian military junta, the official, Joseph Michel Francois, ”put the political and military structure of Haiti under his control” to dispatch the medications from Colombia through Haiti to the United States, the Federal arraignment said (Weiner 1997). A custom curriculum teacher who gave out treats to children and kept extraordinary pets in her Harlem classroom was accused yesterday of having and offering cocaine from a parked vehicle in Manhattan (Finkelstein 2000).

The term “cocaine” actually denotes a particular kind of drug therefore the term was used more or less in the same way. Therefore most of the people who used it used in the same way. It is true that some people supported the use of cocaine in medical usage, however the meaning  of the term remained the same.

Cocaine Seizures and Arrests

The meaning of the term has not changed in the chronological order it was used. It remained the same denoting the meaning of a particular drug. The war on drugs remained the same and increased with time to contain the menace.

If a research paper was to be started I would further endeavor to know whether the existing and pending cases of drug peddling has been solved or not and the culprits are punished or not. In addition I would look into the causes which lead to the rise of such great usage of cocaine and with time how the problem increased and entered even the schools of the country. There must be some reasons which were unchecked by the federal government which led to such a situation. The elements that acted as a catalyst to the problem must also be examined. I would look into all these aspects and then come to a conclusion in my research paper about the topic.

References

Bain, D., 1989. BAD THINGS CAME IN SMALL PLANES. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/30/books/bad-things-came-in-small-planes.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Cummings, J., 1986. COCAINE CAUSED ROGERS DEATH. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/01/sports/cocaine-caused-rogers-death.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Finkelstein, K., 2000. Harlem Teacher Is Charged With Selling Drugs From Car. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/19/nyregion/harlem-teacher-is-charged-with-selling-drugs-from-car.html [Accessed 9 Mar. 2018].

Goodman, R., 1984. COCAINE CAPITAL. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/26/opinion/cocaine-capital.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Kerr, P., 1988. THE SCOURGE OF CHOICE. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/21/books/the-scourge-of-choice.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Lee, F., 1989. Doctor Defends Cocaine Treatments. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/10/nyregion/doctor-defends-cocaine-treatments.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Nytimes.com., 1981. Major Cocaine Seizure Reported. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/22/us/major-cocaine-seizure-reported.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Nytimes.com., 1984. Cocaine Seized in Houston. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1984/06/28/us/cocaine-seized-in-houston.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Nytimes.com., 1985. 2,000 Pounds of Cocaine. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/28/us/2000-pounds-of-cocaine.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Nytimes.com., 1986. SCIENCE WATCH; Cocaine and Anxiety. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/01/science/science-watch-cocaine-and-anxiety.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Nytimes.com., 1988. Cocaine Raid in Florida. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/19/us/cocaine-raid-in-florida.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Nytimes.com., 1988. Cocaine Seized in California. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/29/us/cocaine-seized-in-california.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Nytimes.com., 1988. SPORTS PEOPLE; Cocaine-Related Death. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1988/02/18/sports/sports-people-cocaine-related-death.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Raab, S., 1984. KENNEDY CASE IN SOUTH YIELDS A 2ND SURRENDER. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/26/us/kennedy-case-in-south-yields-a-2nd-surrender.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Risen, J., 1998. Priest’s Arrest on Drug Charge Is Seen as Blow to Archdiocese. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/09/nyregion/priest-s-arrest-on-drug-charge-is-seen-as-blow-to-archdiocese.html [Accessed 9 Mar. 2018].

Schanberg, S., 1985. NEW YORK; OUR KIDS AND COCAINE. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/02/opinion/new-york-our-kids-and-cocaine.html [Accessed 8 Mar. 2018].

Weiner, T., 1997. A Leader of Former Haitian Junta Is Charged With Smuggling Tons of Drugs to U.S.. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/08/world/a-leader-of-former-haitian-junta-is-charged-with-smuggling-tons-of-drugs-to-us.html [Accessed 9 Mar. 2018].