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Role of the US Military in the War on Drugs (From The Latin American Narcotics Trade and US National Security, 1989, P 75-88, Donald J. Mabry, ed.)

NCJ Number
162260
Author(s)
D J Mabry
Date Published
1989
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article examines the use of the military in America's war on drugs.
Abstract
Problems of the military's direct involvement in the antidrug campaign include: interdiction on the high seas and at the border; use of the National Guard; potential corruption of the military; conflict between military intelligence gathering and civil liberties; arrest powers; implications for civil-military relations; and cost-effectiveness. The author suggests that: (1) the US Customs Service should be the lead agency in the antismuggling campaign, with the Coast Guard as one enforcement arm; (2) the military should fight real wars, not pseudowars such as the so-called war on drugs; (3) the military should not be given civilian police powers; (4) any military involvement should be limited to logistical support; (5) Congress and the Executive branch should make it clear that interdiction is no more than a holding action, the United States has no intention of violating other nations' sovereignty, and will not be used to eradicate or help to eradicate crops in other nations; (6) State governors, with the aid of the Department of Defense, should explore possibilities of using their National Guard units to supplement the work of State and local law enforcement; and (7) the United States should develop better means of border interdiction of all smuggled goods, not just illicit narcotics.