Anti-Drug Operations, 1990s

Drug Enforcement Activity

In the 1990s, anti-drug operations largely comprised efforts to arrest drug violators. Between 1991 and 2002, the federal budget allocated to fighting the “War on Drugs” increased from $4.6 billion to $9.5 billion. In 1992, President Clinton commissioned 100,000 more police officers to the streets for assistance in anti-drug operations. By the mid-1990s, law enforcement agents had made approximately one million drug arrests. An additional $5.1 billion was allocated for prison space in 1995 to accommodate this increase in arrests. The effort to saturate the streets with law enforcement activity was believed to show reductions in both the supply and the demand of illegal drugs. Likewise, in 1990, the United States utilized military troops to enforce federal law prohibiting the growth of marijuana for medical purposes. In what was known as “Operation Green Sweep,” federal troops eradicated marijuana crops of California growers. Between 1990 and 2002, law enforcement arrests of drug offenders comprised 450,000 arrests. Of those, approximately 82 percent of all drug arrests were for marijuana violations, representing a 113 percent increase. During this same time, arrests for heroin and cocaine violations also increased while all other arrest categories showed a decrease.

Prosecution

In addition to police saturation and subsequent arrests, drug offenders were rigorously prosecuted throughout the 1990s. In efforts to support anti-drug operations, mandatory minimum sentences and zero tolerance policies were aggressively enforced throughout this time period. It was hoped that mandatory minimum sentences and zero tolerance polices would reduce the demand for drugs through the rigorous enforcement of harsh sentencing practices for all drug violations. Enforcement of mandatory sentences by state and federal law was notorious throughout the 1990s as a part of the anti-drug operation.

Mandatory minimum sentences targeted drug users and offenders for the possession or selling of illicit drugs with offenders receiving sentences ranging from 6 months to 15 years, depending upon geographic location within the United States. Specifically, law enforcement agencies targeted offenders of marijuana and crack cocaine possession. In addition to anti-drug operations of the 1990s, the 1973 Rockefeller Laws continued to be enforced whereby drug offenders received 15-year prison sentences for either the possession of 4 ounces of illicit drugs or the selling of 2 ounces.

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