War on Drugs

Joe Lancaster | 9.17.2024 12:40 PM

While America has long had restrictive drug laws, the "war on drugs" is considered to have begun in earnest in June 1971. "America's public enemy number one," President Richard Nixon proclaimed in a press conference, "is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive."

Recently discovered audio of Nixon's private conversations indicates that he may not have completely believed what he said.

During his presidency, Nixon infamously recorded thousands of hours of his conversations; the existence of recordings in which he discussed the Watergate break-in and cover-up proved key to his downfall. In recordings from 1972 and 1973, as reported by The New York Times, Nixon admitted to aides that perhaps marijuana wasn't as bad as he was publicly letting on.

"Let me say, I know nothing about marijuana," Nixon says in March 1973, in a grainy audio recording that is hard to hear at times. "I know that it's not particularly dangerous; I know most of the kids are for legalizing it."

"But on the other hand," he continues, "it's the wrong signal at this time."

In October 1970, Nixon........

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