Who began the War on Drugs?

• A. President Reagan began the War on Drugs because Americans wanted the government to be tougher and on the offensive.
• B. President Reagan did not initiate the War on Drugs; it began under a different president.
• C. The War on Drugs began primarily as a public health initiative.
• D. There was no national campaign.

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is how the War on Drugs started and how it evolved. While President Reagan later intensified the crackdown, the initiative actually began earlier—in the early 1970s under President Nixon. In 1971, Nixon framed drug abuse as a major national problem and launched broad federal enforcement efforts, signaling a shift in how the government approached drugs. The DEA, created in the following years, symbolized that new, enforcement-centered approach. Reagan then expanded and intensified these efforts in the 1980s with tougher laws and aggressive enforcement, but he did not initiate the campaign.

So the option that credits Reagan with starting the War on Drugs is historically inaccurate because the origins lie with Nixon, with Reagan acting as a later amplifier. The idea that it began as a public health initiative or that there was no national campaign doesn’t capture the policy shift toward nationwide enforcement that defined its start.