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America’s current War on Drugs is a danger to the integrity of the American Constitution itself. The Bill of Rights, which is contained in the Constitution, guarantees American citizens with certain inalienable rights. In efforts to eradicate drugs in American society, the government has infringed upon numerous rights ensured by the Constitution. Among these rights include search and seizure, as well as, a reasonable expectation to privacy. As Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall reminds us, “there is no drug exception to the Constitution” (qtd. in Wisotsky). It is important to consider the overall consequences of this alleged, War on Drugs, whether they are intended or not. The aforementioned points can be best put into words by the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court who stated, “If the zeal to eliminate drugs leads this state and nation to forsake its ancient heritage of constitutional liberty, then we will have suffered a far greater injury than drugs ever inflict upon us. Drugs injure some of us. The loss of liberty injures us all”( qtd.inWisotsky).

The Prison Industrial Complex has proven to be a center of controversy in the United States. Prisons prove to be valuable to the growth of any city’s economy due to the private businesses that profit from the construction and maintenance of these facilities. When the interest of private businesses and the economy begin to have influence over the criminal justice system, is when the Prison Industrial Complex sets in. “A hotel has a strong economic incentive to book every available room and encourage every guest to stay as long as possible. A private prison has exactly the same incentive” (Schlosser 4). When you consider the aforementioned quote, it is not hard to see why legislation such as mandatory minimums had increased in past years. In his farewell address former president Dwight D. Eisenhower issued a warning to the American public stating, “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex” (qtd. in Schlosser 1) The Prison Industrial Complex is the modern day version of the Military Industrial Complex and in much the same way, should be guarded against.