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Decriminalization of drug essay
Drug control policy us
Drug control policy us
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A new report indicates that the economic cost of lost productivity from drug-related incarcerations is considerably higher than the cost associated with drug use. The Prime Minister of your country is weighing the option of proposing new legislation which experiments with models of legal regulation of certain illicit drugs, including the decriminalization of marijuana possession. The proposed policy has received sharp criticism from members of the law enforcement, as well as groups of parents and other constituencies who believe that the government should pursue the goal of a “drug-free” society. The solution to the immoral, unwinnable war on drugs Key recommendations: • All currently illegal drugs should be decriminalised. • Up to a set quantity, possession of such substances would result in a misdemeanour charge. Education and rehabilitation would be offered as alternatives to prison. • Drug traffickers and those concerned in the large-scale sale of drugs would be pursued more vigorously, with funds diverted from targeting small-scale drug users. The issue: Drugs are costing the United Kingdom's economy billions of pounds. The overall annual expenditure on the war on drugs in the UK is £4.72 billion, (Savage, 2008) with crimes relating to drugs costing the UK £13.3 billion every year. (Ellison & Baker, 2013) This is unmanageably high, particularly with concerted efforts currently being made to lower the UK's budget deficit of £121 billion a year. The problem is urgent not only because of the economic cost of drug related incarcerations but also because of the proliferation of so called 'research chemicals'. These are often more dangerous than the drugs whose effects they mimic and have caused a spate... ... middle of paper ... ...riment. Full legalisation of drugs would be another alternative. The majority of the public would be against such a move, however, with justifiable suspicions that it could cause the usage rate of drugs to move much higher. This is particularly relevant in the UK, where the culture is one of a 'binging' mentality. This already presents numerous problems with alcohol, which could worsen if joined with other recreational substances that have low therapeutic index values. Conclusion Decriminalising all drugs has been shown to reduce harm for drug users, save monumental amounts of money, not significantly raise usage rates and has realistic, attainable goals. There is simply no other comprehensive option that makes as much sense - and no other alternative should this government genuinely want to make inroads into solving the problem drugs have on society.
Bibliography: Ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au, (2002). 01. What is Australia's "drug budget"? The policy mix of illicit drug-related governement spending in Australia | Resource | NDARC - National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. [online] Available at: https://ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au/resource/01-what-australias-drug-budget-policy-mix-illicit-drug-related-governement-spending [Accessed 2 Apr. 2014].
America's War on Drugs: Policy and Problems. In this paper I will evaluate America's War on Drugs. More specifically, I will outline our nation's general drug history and look critically at how Congress has influenced our current ineffective drug policy. Through this analysis, I hope to show that drug prohibition policies in the United States, for the most part, have failed.
I base my support of the decriminalization of all drugs on a principle of human rights, but the horror and frustration with which I voice this support is based on practicality. The most tangible effect of the unfortunately labeled "Drug War" in the United States is a prison population larger than Russia's and China's, and an inestimable death toll that rivals the number of American casualties from any given war, disease or catastrophe.
As described in novel The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference the course of any trend, movement, social behavior, and even the spread of a virus has a general trend line that in essence resemble a parabola with 3 main critical points. Any trend line first starts from zero, grows until it crosses the first tipping point, and then spreads like wildfire. Afterwards, the trend skyrockets to its carrying capacity (Galdwell, 2000). Then the trend gradually declines before it reaches the next tipping and suddenly falls out of favor and out of memory. Gladwell defines tipping points as the “magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire” (Gladwell, 2000).
The War on Drugs is believed to help with many problems in today’s society such as realizing the rise of crime rates and the uprooting of violent offenders and drug kingpin. Michelle Alexander explains that the War on Drugs is a new way to control society much like how Jim Crow did after the Civil War. There are many misconceptions about the War on Drugs; commonly people believe that it’s helping society with getting rid of those who are dangerous to the general public. The War on Drugs is similar to Jim Crow by hiding the real intention behind Mass Incarceration of people of color. The War on Drugs is used to take away rights of those who get incarcerated. When they plead guilty, they will lose their right to vote and have to check application
Lately it seems that drug policy and the war on drugs has been in the headlines quite a lot. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the policies that the United States government takes against illegal drugs are coming into question. The mainstream media is catching on to the message of organizations and individuals who have long been considered liberal "Counter Culture" supporters. The marijuana question seems to be the most prevalent and pressed of the drugs and issues that are currently being addressed. The messages of these organizations and individuals include everything from legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, to full-unrestricted legalization of the drug. Of course, the status quo of vote seeking politicians and conservative policy makers has put up a strong resistance to this "new" reform lobby. The reasons for the resistance to the changes in drug policies are multiple and complex. The issues of marijuana’s possible negative effects, its use as a medical remedy, the criminality of distribution and usage, and the disparity in the enforcement of current drug laws have all been brought to a head and must be addressed in the near future. It is apparent that it would be irresponsible and wrong for the government to not evaluate it’s current general drug policies and perhaps most important, their marijuana policy. With the facts of racial disparity in punishment, detrimental effects, fiscal strain and most importantly, the history of the drug, the government most certainly must come to the conclusion that they must, at the very least, decriminalize marijuana use and quite probably fully legalize it.
Concerned authorities have focused essentially on criminalization and punishment, to find remedies to the ever-increasing prevalent drug problem. In the name of drug reducing policies, authorities endorse more corrective and expensive drug control methods and officials approve stricter new drug war policies, violating numerous human rights. Regardless of or perhaps because of these efforts, UN agencies estimate the annual revenue generated by the illegal drug industry at $US400 billion, or the equivalent of roughly eight per cent of total international trade (Riley 1998). This trade has increased organized/unorganized crime, corrupted authorities and police officials, raised violence, disrupted economic markets, increased risk of diseases an...
Nadelmann, Ethan. "DRUGS: THINK AGAIN." European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies. Sept.-Oct. 2007. Web. 02 Mar. 2011. .
Many feel today we are loosing the war on drugs. People consider legalization unnecessary. They feel that it will increase the amount of drug use throughout the world. They state that in many cases, drug users who have quit quit because of trouble with the law. Legalization would eliminate the legal forces that discourage the users from using or selling drugs. They also say that by making drugs legal, the people who have never tried drugs for fear of getting caught by the law will have no reason to be afraid anymore and will become users (Potter 1998).
A 2012 poll showed that 58% of Americans are in favor of decriminalization of drugs like Marijuana, as opposed to 12% back in 1969. [1] Many Americans feel that the war on drugs has failed, and that our police officers and other federal institutions could be making better use of their time, effort, and fiscal resources. The cost of this war on drugs has become so great. Not only does the war cost billions to enforce, but countless lives are lost as the cartels become more violent in their pursuit of power.
While growing up, everyone is told that drugs are bad. That’s why US government declared a war against drugs a long time ago, but still people are using recreational drugs like marijuana and ecstasy. The prohibition against drugs is not working for us. Though we are investing a lot of taxpayers’ money on the DEA, we failed to stop people from taking drugs. Instead more people are dying from overdose or too much use of these drugs. Many people like Russell Brand thinks that legalizing drugs might be able to solve the problem. Though legalizing drugs is working perfectly in Switzerland and Portugal, we should do a lot of research before making any decisions. If the government do decide to legalize drugs, it will have certain impacts on our economy, public health and crime rate.
Wolf, M. (2011, June 4). We should declare an end to our disastrous war on drugs. Financial Times. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.consortiumlibrary.org/docview/870200965?accountid=14473
“Getting tough on drugs inevitably translates into getting soft on nondrug crime,” they write. “When a decision is made to wage a ‘war on drugs,’ other things that criminal justice resources might do have to be sacrificed.”
Drugs Should Not Be Legalized. " Greenhaven Press. 65-92 Riga, Peter J. " " Legalization Would Help Solve The Nation's Drug Problems.
It seems that in the ongoing debate over whether to legalize drugs in the United States, quite a few people feel that legalization would diminish the crime rate. Their argument points out that the permissible use of marijuana would eliminate the necessity for people to go into hard drug territories to purchase such a drug and maybe even deter them from trying narcotics like crack-cocaine and heroin. Even though these people assert that legalization could diminish crime rate, they forget to realize that alcohol and nicotine are legal psychoactive drugs and have detrimental hazards on our society. Since these drugs are easily obtainable, they are more often used by people of all ages. Although education about nicotine effects decreased smoking in our country, the crimes related to alcohol abuse are still staggering in our community due to the easy accessibility and acceptance from the population in general. The way alcohol impairs a person's brain it is amazing that more efforts have not been made to in some way deter people from drinking like they have been deterred from smoking. Prohibition is out since it has been acceptable and we know what happened when we did try to prohibit alcohol. If we were to legal other drugs, it would be hard to rescind the decision much like with alcohol and nicotine. Legalization is a scary issue when it is looked upon in this respect.