17 June 1971: USA declares ‘War on Drugs’

On this day in 1971, Richard Nixon announced that the USA would wage a ‘war on drugs’, which he named as ‘public enemy number one’.

President Nixon points to a reporter during his televised news conference in the East Room of the White House
(Image credit: Bettmann / Getty Images)

The 1960s were a time of mind expansion, free love and tiresomely earnest discussions about the nature of the universe, all fuelled by drugs.

But The Man wasn't having it. Less than two years after the Sixties finally shut up and went to bed, Richard Nixon declared on this day in 1971 that he was going to wage a war on drugs.

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Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.