Vaughn Kutish
RCL 137H
Dr. Bedell
09/18/22
The Rhetoric of the American War on Drugs
In the 1980s, the United States battle against drugs reached its height. Cocaine from South America had been in the country since the mid-1970s, and the crack epidemic was just beginning (Wall Street Journal). Crime rates were skyrocketing in many cities, particularly Miami because it was the main port city for South American drug smuggling. In 1980, Miami had a record number of homicides at 573; just one year later that record was left behind, with the 1981 tally being 621. Miami-Dade country had to rent a refrigerator truck to keep victims on ice while they awaited autopsy because the morgue was full (Miami New Times). This steep rise in violence is what provoked a response from the federal government. They began the “War on Drugs” and escalated to its highest point as drug violence continued to rise throughout the 1980s. In 1986, First Lady Nancy Reagan gave her “Just Say No” speech on national TV alongside her husband, President Ronald Reagan (CNN). Her speech was a powerful emotional appeal to Americans, and it was the beginning of a movement (and non-profit organization) she started that fought to keep America’s youth away from drug abuse and the violence that comes with it. In 1987, the first “This is Your Brain on Drugs” commercial was aired by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (mentalfloss.com). This commercial is much more concise, and it has less of an emotional appeal than Reagan’s speech. It relies more on scare tactics to keep kids away from drugs. Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” speech and the “This is Your Brain on Drugs” commercials took different approaches to keep the youth away from America’s growing drug epidemic. While they both used ethos and pathos to sway the American youth, they failed to address serious underlying issues like addiction and socioeconomic status during the War on Drugs.
“Just Say No” and “This is Your Brain on Drugs” replied to the same exigence: a rise in drug usage and violence. The 1970’s saw a rise in cocaine usage as South American countries, particularly Colombia, began synthesizing and smuggling it to the United States. Cocaine made its way into the party culture of the rich and famous. Through the 1970s and even into the 1980s, cocaine “was glamorized in the U.S. Media,” being called “non-addictive” and “harmless” (PBS). In the early 1980s, crack cocaine emerged. Crack cocaine was derived from powder cocaine, and it was much cheaper and much more addictive. Crack cocaine instantly devastated communities of a lower socioeconomic status in America. This was exasperated further by the shrinking job market; in the 1980s, many companies started moving their factories out of cities to rural areas to cut costs (Britannica). This shift left people who relied on factory work to fend for themselves. Many were tempted toward turning to gangs and the drug industry when they had no options left to make money. The rising poverty rates led to more drug usage and more violence. Ultimately, a culture around these drugs developed in many low-income areas, and teenagers and young adults were pulled in. America’s response came in the mid-1980s in the form of non-profits like Just Say No and the Partnership for a Drug-Free America (PDFA). These two non-profits specifically focused on communication and outreach in the form of commercials, speeches, and rallies to achieve their goals. They hoped to keep children away from drugs with the hope that they would have a better future; they were also attempting to create a safer America that would have less drug violence.
Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” speech and the PDFA’s “This is Your Brain on Drugs” commercial took different paths to achieve their ethos, but ultimately had the same goal: convince the children of America to stay away from drugs. Nancy Reagan already had a strong voice in the United States as the First Lady and wife of President Ronald Reagan. In her speech, she used this voice to build a connection with the youth, almost appearing as a parental figure to every child in America. She built her credibility as a protective and caring figure by using personal language; she uses this close and familial relationship to emotionally sway American children away from the temptation of drug culture.
The PDFA’s “This is Your Brain on Drugs Commercial” establishes its ethos through simplicity. The 30-second clip is designed for a young audience that doesn’t have a complex understanding of drugs. In reality, the metaphor isn’t a very accurate representation of the way drugs change brain function. Because of this, the commercial doesn’t establish strong ethos with older people. The reason that ethos is built between the PDFA and children of America is that it leaves behind one simple metaphor: the human brain is an egg and taking drugs is the same as cracking that egg into a hot frying pan. This metaphor is very effective to its intended audience of young Americans because of how easy it is to interpret; the takeaway message to kids is that drugs will “fry” their brain.
“Just Say No” and “This is Your Brain on Drugs” both take advantage of pathos. “Just Say No” uses more of a pathetic appeal, while “This is Your Brain on Drugs” relies on scare tactics to get its message across. Using the ethos that she established to emotionally appeal to young Americans, she told the story of a baby that was born to a mother who used cocaine; Nancy Reagan told the nation that the young baby named Paul “lies motionless in an incubator, feeding tubes riddling his tiny body…and a daily spinal tap to relieve fluid buildup in his brain.” She said that Paul was “only 1 month old, [but] he’d already suffered two strokes” (CNN). Reagan wanted America to see and sympathize with an innocent victim of drug abuse. The end of her monologue is undoubtedly the most memorable lines:
Life can be great, but not when you can’t see it. So, open your eyes to life: to see it in the vivid colors that God gave us as a precious gift to His children, to enjoy life to the fullest, and to make it count. Say yes to your life. And when it comes to drugs and alcohol just say no. (CNN)
Nancy Reagan wanted one message to be clear to her audience: drugs will make your life worse and only bring pain and suffering.
Nancy Reagan’s speech and the PDFA’s commercial might’ve influenced some of America’s youth, but it failed to influence the communities that truly needed help. The lack of opportunity (and the culture surrounding drugs created by few employment opportunities) that existed in many low-income areas led to young adults succumbing into gangs, drug addiction, and drug dealing. The response to the rising drug crime rates from the U.S. government was to create strict laws regarding crack cocaine like the 100:1 rule. This law stated that 1 gram of crack cocaine would be punished to the same extent at 100 grams of powder cocaine. 50 grams of crack cocaine carried the same 10-year minimum sentence of 5000 grams of powder cocaine. Crack also became the only drug that had mandatory prison sentences for first-time possession offenses (New York Times). The intent was to make sentencing harsher for the substance that they believed was having worse effects on society, but the reality ended up being mass incarceration for low-income drug addicts; high-income members of society that were addicted to the more expensive powder cocaine would face incredibly lenient sentencing comparatively. Crack cocaine laws perpetuated a cycle that had little to no effect on drug usage and forced many low-income citizens further into poverty. Between 1986 and 1993 both drug overdoses and drug-related homicides continued to trend upwards as they had in previous years (CDC and Bureau of Justice Statistics). The War on Drugs and the organizations that supported it like Just Say No and PDFA had little to no effect on drug usage in America. These organizations may have had good intentions, but much of the work they did supported legislation that blatantly punished low-income Americans more than higher-income Americans for similar drug violations.
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