War on Drugs Event Series (2014 to Present)

[Canto]

The War on Drugs, Public Enemy Number One

Hole in the Wall Paintball Scenario Series (2014-Present)

The ‘War on Drugs’ is a loosely used and general term for a set of international legislation, prohibition, financial assistance, military aid, and conflicts both regional and internal with the stated goals of reducing the global illegal drug trade (narcotic and/or controlled substance black market), reduction of drug related crime and violence, and reducing the consumption of illegal controlled substances. According to a 2003 United Nations report, the worldwide drug trade generated an estimated $321.6 billion (USD); an estimated 1% of all global trade.

In the United States, President Richard Nixon officially launched the ‘War on Drugs’ in 1971 declaring that drug abuse was “public enemy number one.” Often since their formation nation states around the world have passed laws and regulations attempting to control the sale, use, and distribution of controlled substances. Official attempts to regulate or prohibit psychoactive substances came as early as 1729 with Chinese laws prohibiting the smoking of opium. Prohibition laws are considered by law enforcement and governments to be some of the more difficult regulations to enforce; simply speaking citizens often times choose not to obey.

On June 2nd, 2011, the Global Commission on Drug Policy including former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the former presidents of Mexico, Brazil, and Columbia officially declared that the “War on Drugs has failed.” Governments around the world are engaged in a myriad of legal and actual battles both for and against the prohibition of drugs. Even after the ink of the legislative pen has dried and the muzzle of the rifle falls silent, a number of serious questions will remain... Has the War on Drugs reduced the demand? Has the supply of drugs been reduced or eliminated? Can morality be legislated for the benefit of public good? Should public health be treated as a legal issue?


War on Drugs Timeline (1880-Present):

* Global or culturally significant events have been added for historical depth.

1880 - The United States and Qing Dynasty China complete an agreement prohibiting the transportation of Opium between the two countries.
1898 – Heroin marketed as a sedative for coughs and a cure for morphine addiction by Bayer.
1899 – Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) marketed and sold by Bayer.
1903 – Coca-Cola removes cocaine from their soft drink formula and replaces it with caffeine.
1906 – Muckraker Upton Sinclair publishes The Jungle. American citizenry are alarmed and outraged at the unsanitary conditions of the meat packing industry.
1906 – Congress enacts the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act in direct response to public outcry over the American meat packing industry. Alcohol, cannabis, morphine, and opium were deemed “dangerous” by newly passed legislation.
1909 – Smoking Opium Exclusion Act is passed. “Smoking opium” is banned for personal use, possession, and importation.
1914 - Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 is passed by the United States Congress, taxing the importation, production, distribution, and sale of opiate and coca products within the United States.
1914 – Austria-Hungary invades Serbia, World War I formally begins.
1918 – Germany, the last of the Central Powers sign an armistice with allied powers at Compiegne, France. World War I formally ends.
1919 – Congress passes the 18th Amendment to the constitution, the sale, manufacture, distribution, and transportation of alcohol is prohibited.
1920 – Congress passes the National Prohibition Act (Volstead Act), providing a level of enforcement to the 18th Amendment.
1922 – Donald Crisp directs a 55 minute silent film titled Tell Your Children in the United Kingdom. The original intention of the film was to be shown to parents warning of the dangers (manslaughter, suicide, attempted rape, and insanity) of cannabis use. No known copies of the original film are known to exist.
1933 – Twenty-first Amendment to the constitution is passed by congress, the Eighteenth Amendment is repealed, ending the prohibition of alcohol.
1936 – Producer Dwain Esper purchases the rights to Tell Your Children and re-releases it after re-cutting and adding several scenes under the titles Reefer Madness, Dope Addict, Doped Youth, Love Madness, and The Burning Question.
1937 – Harry Anslinger drafts the Marihuana Tax Act and is introduced to congress. The cultivation, distribution, and use of cannabis are allowed with the purchase of a $1.00 stamp; none were given out. Decision to pass the law was based on the information that cannabis use causes insanity, criminality, and death.
1938 - Popular Mechanics magazine publishes an article about the use of hemp in the United States entitled New Billion Dollar Crop.
1938 – Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann synthesizes Lysergic Acid Diethylamide.
1939 - Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union begin Operation: Case White, invading neighboring Poland. World War II formally begins.
1941 – Empire of Japan conducts a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. United States declares war on the Empire of Japan, Nazi Germany and Italy declare war on the United States.
1942 – United States Department of Agriculture produces a sixteen minute pro-war propaganda film titled Hemp For Victory, encouraging farmers to grow hemp.
1943 - Lysergic Acid Diethylamide is discovered to have psychedelic properties.
1945 – American, British, and Soviet troops capture Berlin. Germany declares its unconditional surrender to allied forces, also known as Victory in Europe Day.
1945 – Allied forces meet for the Potsdam Declaration to lay out terms for the surrender of Japan.
1945 - United States drops two atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Empire of the Japan surrenders to allied forces six days later, ending World War II.
1950 – Troops from the Korean People’s Army cross the 38th parallel and engage Republic of Korea forces. United States intervenes militarily backing South Korea; the Chinese People’s Volunteers supports North Korea.
1952 – Boggs Act is passed by the United States congress. Penalties for possession of controlled substances are increased fourfold and mandatory sentencing is now allowed.
1953 – United Nations Command, North Korean People’s Army, Chinese People’s Volunteers, and the United States sign an Armistice Agreement formally ending combat. Korea is divided at the 38th parallel into North and South.
1956 – Congress passes the Daniel Act. Penalties for possession are increased by a factor of eight for sentencing. Gateway Theory for drug use is developed.
1963 – 16,000 United States military personnel are present in South Vietnam.
1969 – President Richard Nixon announces Operation Intercept, an attempt to reduce the amount of cannabis crossing the border into the United States from Mexico.
1969 – Woodstock Music and Art Fair is held at White Lake, New York, an estimated 400,000 people attend.
1970 – United States congress passes the Controlled Substance Act, creating a federal classification system (Schedules) for psychoactive controlled substances.
1970 – Chemist John E. Franz working for Monsanto invents Glyphosate as a broad-spectrum herbicide. Glyphosate herbicide begins being sold under the name Roundup.
1971 – Richard Nixon declares the War on Drugs and drugs as “public enemy number one.”
1971 – Mandatory urine testing for all servicemen returning from Vietnam begins. Only 4.5% of tested returning service members test positive for heroin.
1972 – President Richard Nixon and the United States congress ignore the recommendation of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse to legalize the sale and possession of small amounts of cannabis.
1973 – Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, Office of Drug Abuse Law Enforcement, and several other government agencies merge to create the Drug Enforcement Administration.
1975 – Last elements of United States diplomatic, military, and civilian personnel are evacuated by helicopter from Saigon, South Vietnam.
1979 - Narcotic related murders begin to skyrocket in the city of Miami, Florida. Quickly dubbed the "Miami Drug War" and "Cocaine Cowboys".
1982 – Monsanto becomes the first company to genetically modify a plant cell.
1984 - U.S. President Ronald Reagan signs into law the Comprehensive Crime and Control Act of 1984. Expanding penalties towards the possession of cannabis, and established a system of mandatory minimum sentences and laid the framework for civil asset forfeiture.
1988 – Administration of Ronald Reagan creates the Office of National Drug Control Policy to coordinate drug related enforcement, legislation, research, diplomatic relations, and health policy throughout the United States government.
1989 – United States launches Operation Just Cause to unseat General Manuel Noriega and end narcotic trafficking in Panama.
1990 – Multinational coalition forces begin Operation Desert Storm in response to the Iraqi invasion and annexation of Kuwait.
1991 – Coalition representatives, Ba’athist Iraqi officials, and United Nations representatives meet and sign United Nations Security Counsel Resolution 687, a formal cease fire begins.
1993 – Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (Drug Czar) is raised to a cabinet level position by President Bill Clinton.
1993 - Members of the Columbian National Police (Search Bloc) locate and kill Colombian drug lord Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria.
1996 – State of California passes Proposition 215, legalizing small amounts of cannabis for medical use.
1998 – Governments of Colombia and the United States agree to “Plan Colombia”, an attempt to reduce drug-smuggling and coca production, as well as combating several left-wing paramilitary groups operating in Colombia. Glyphosate herbicide is sprayed by air over coca fields to eliminate production.
2001 – National Research Counsel Committee on Data and Research for Policy on Illegal Drugs publishes data calling United States policy on drugs “unconscionable.”
2001 – Islamic terrorists execute four coordinated attacks on the United States using commercial airliners. War on Terror begins.
2001 – United States and NATO allies launch Operation Enduring Freedom, invading Afghanistan to remove the Taliban and its al-Qaeda allies from power.
2003 – United States and the United Kingdom begin Operation Iraqi Freedom, a multinational military operation to oust Saddam Hussein and the Ba’athist political party from power. Invasion conducted under the assumption that Iraq possessed Weapons on Mass Destruction.
2005 – State of Illinois passes the Illinois Methamphetamine Precursor Control Act. The act requires individuals to present state issued identification for the purchase of medication containing pseudoephedrin.
2006 – Mexican government begins Operation Michoacan, an attempt by Mexican officials to curb the illegal drug trade and to combat increasingly powerful and violent drug cartels operating in Central America.
2008 – Office of National Drug Policy reports that youth drug use has declined from 19.4% to 14.8% among middle and high school students.
2008 – Michigan voters pass Proposal 1 with 63% of voting yes, allowing the use of medical cannabis for patients with debilitating medical conditions.
2008 – Mexico, United States, and several Central American countries agree to the Merida Initiative, an international plan of cooperation to counter narcotics trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime.
2009 – The administration of Barack Obama and the Office of National Drug Policy deem the term “War on Drugs” to be counter-productive and attempt to discontinue its use.
2011 – Last elements of United States troops leave Iraq, passing security operations onto domestic Iraqi security forces.
2011 - Street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi douses himself with petrol and self-immolates on the streets of Ben Arous, Tunisia. Mass protests begin across the Arab World, sparking the beginning of the Arab Spring.
2012 – States of Washington and Colorado pass laws to legalize the possession, use, distribution of small amounts of cannabis.
2012 - Griselda Blanco (Godmother of Cocaine) of the former Medellin Cartel is assassinated in Columbia. 
2014 - Insurgents of the Islamic State of Iraq and The Levant overwhelm stretched domestic Iraqi military forces. Quickly capturing expansive amounts of territory in Iraq and Syria, declaring themselves a worldwide caliphate over all Muslims.
2014 - First public dispensaries open in the U.S. state of Colorado. State residents twenty-one years of age or older may purchase up to one ounce (28 grams) of cannabis. Non-state residents may purchase up to a quarter ounce (7 grams).
2015 - Ohio residents may vote on a ballot proposal for lessened restrictions on cannabis including  state licensed cannabis dispensaries.
2015 - Islamic State insurgents control territory occupied by over ten million people including; areas of Iraq and Syria and smaller pockets in Libya and Nigeria. ISIL finances are strongly believed to be generated from captured oil fields, antiquities smuggling, heroin trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, and human trafficking.
2015 - Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman of the Sinaloa Cartel escapes from a Mexican prison using a nearly one mile long tunnel dug almost 33 feet under the earth.
2016 - Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman is captured by members of the Mexican Navy Special Forces with assistance from the army and the federal police.
2016 - The Philippine Drug War begins under the directive of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. The policy is aimed at “the neutralization of illegal drug personalities nationwide". Numerous international groups including the ICC and UNHCR have issued statements against President Duterte’s actions; citing a surge of violence and murders across the country.
2016 - Recreational Cannabis is legalized for adult use in the U.S. state of Nevada when Question 2 passed by a 54% margin.
2017 - Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III was selected by President Donald Trump to serve as the 84th United States Attorney General.
2017 - Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman is extradited to the United States to be placed on trial for drug trafficking with intent to distribute, conspiracy association, organized crime against health, money laundering, homicide, illegal possession of firearms, and murder.
2018 - Michigan Regulation and Taxation of Marijuana Act (Proposal 1) was passed by Michigan voters with nearly 56% voting yes. Legalizing 2.5 ounces or less of Cannabis for adults 21 years of age or older and limited retail sales.
2018 - Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinds the Cole Memorandum, shielding states that have enacted state level medical Cannabis programs from federal interference.
2019 - Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman is sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years and is serving his sentence at Supermax ADX Florence, in Colorado.
2020 - Recreational Cannabis is legalized for adult use in the U.S. states of Montana, New Jersey and South Dakota.
2020 - Cannabis is decriminalized in the U.S. state of Virginia.


* Global or culturally significant events have been added for the benefit of historical depth.

Event Outcomes:

Campaign 1: Operation: Russkaya Bratva - 03/29/2014
Theater of War: Southern Russia.
Event Outcome: Drug Cartel Victory.

Campaign 2: Operation: Cuerno de Chivo - 06/14/2014
Theater of War: Guatemala.
Event Outcome: Counter Narcotics Victory.

Campaign 3: Operation: Auric Vahkan - 08/19/2017
Theater of War: Tajikistan.
Event Outcome: Drug Cartel Victory.

Campaign 4: Operation: Little Tail - 04/27/2019
Theater of War: El Salvador.
Event Outcome: Counter Narcotics Team Victory.

Campaign 5: Batanes Offensive - 04/24/2021
Theater of War: Philippine Islands.
Event Outcome: Undecided.