Drug Use in America

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Dangerous illegal drugs have plagued American citizens and their youth for as long as the country has been in existence. These harmful drugs are not only responsible for countless amounts of deaths, but the corruption of the American society in general. All too many times have these drugs been blamed for insanity, racism, rebellion, and straight up violence. Today the government is spending approximately $19.179 billion in one year to combat these evils (Gifford). Unfortunately, even with all of this effort going in to stop illegal drug use, the “War on Drugs” is yet to produce almost any positive results. Because of this, politicians are urging the government to spend even more money to combat the seemingly endless influence of drugs on our culture. Perhaps the problem is not in the drugs, but the way the government is going about to stop them.

Since the creation of the “War on Drugs”, marijuana has been the primary target. The government chose this drug because it is by far the most widely used illegal drug in The United States. They claim that marijuana is a gateway drug and by stopping America’s youth from smoking cannabis, they will be successful in curbing them away from the more dangerous drugs. This is the main flaw in the “War on Drugs”. It has been proven time after time that there is no correlation with increased marijuana use with other drug use. Holland is a leading country that is practicing just this type of law enforcement. Instead of keeping the harsh punishments that America has put on the possession and sale of marijuana, Holland has decriminalized the drug by simply looking the other way. Today there are hundreds of “coffee shops” in the country where people ...

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...s that rely on the income brought in from marijuana. Until that day comes Americans have to be willing to stand up for what they believe is the best thing for themselves and their country.

Works Cited

Facts. 2004. Connect Truth. Apr. 2004<http://www.thetruth.com/index.cfm?connect=facts>.

Gifford, Sidra Lea. Drug War Facts. Feb. 2002. Office of National Drug ControlPolicy. Apr. 2004 <http://www.drugwarfacts.org/economi.htm>.

Hager, Paul. Marijuana Myths. ICLU Drug Task Force. Apr. 2004

<http://www.drugtext.org/sub/marmyt1.html>.

Joy, Janet, and Stanley Watson. Institute of Medicine. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. 1999. Apr. 2004

<http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_medical_iom_report.pdf>.

Stossel, John . Just Say No. 2004. ABC News. Apr. 2004

<http://abcnews.go.com/onair/2020/stossel_drugs_020730. >.

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