Legalizing Drugs or Joining the Drug Addict Circle?

The United States has spent over 30 years fighting the war on drugs. Americans have paid a heavy price financially. The drug enforcement budget is now $40 billion. A lot of time, effort, and money go into America’s attempt in eliminating trafficking, dealing, and the use of illegal drugs. Many believe that this is a war worth fighting, while others feel that America will never conquer the war on drugs. The latter suggest legalization as an alternative plan that will help save the country millions of dollars. In this paper, I will examine the history of the drug war as well as the arguments for and against fighting the war on drugs.

Once drugs are legalized, they will certainly do more harm to the society and the number of drug users will also greatly increase. The proposal that the legalization of drugs can reduce harm is based on the current situation that the spreading of drugs can’t be rapidly ...

As a voice of the American civil society, we believe that our current approach to drug policy is never going to be effective. We have proposed the policies accordingly, and we strongly believe that these suggested policies will cast beneficial impact on various relevant stakeholders. Victims are by far the most benefitted side, manufacturers and sellers will benefit by extinction of

The prohibitionist national policy towards drugs in U.S has been extremely contentious in the present times. After decades of the stance that costs billions how many each year, the paltry achievements and the countless negative externalities have led to a clamor for alternative policies instead of a “War on Drugs”.

The present methodology of the "war on drugs" fails to recognize both the ineffectiveness of legal deterrence as a long-term solution as well as the reality of addiction as a serious disease. Additionally, a disproportionate number of minority peoples appear to stand as primary targets of this system. Arguments even exist which suggest that social betterment is not in fact at the heart of present-day drug-related legislation, but that instead, profit for particular agencies and industries involved drives the law. However, the most compelling political argument against the war on drugs is the cost.

The war on drugs is a common term we have been listening to for the last couple of years. Governments come and governments go, and this problem is never fixed. Instead, it just seems to grow. How is it possible that the United States spends more than $51 Billion dollars each year to fight the drug trade and dealers and manufacturers of drugs are becoming increasingly more rich and powerful? Since 2006, there have been more than 70,000 deaths because of the war on drug in Mexico, and this number would be much higher if all of deaths were documented (“drugpolicy.org”). Currently, the volume of drug use is huge, and most of the civilized countries are taking various measures to change this situation. The policy of most countries is aimed at combating drugs by prohibitive measures against their spreading. However, in many countries, particularly in Europe, traditional drug policy is more and more redefined. Many different groups of people, from the actual drug users to leading political figures, now, are questioning the old and the common notion that any non-medical use of drugs should be prohibited. There are different views on this issue from complete prohibition of drugs, to decriminalization, legal issuing prescriptions for drugs and legalization. Drugs have to be legalized for several important reasons proving that laws prohibiting them are irrational as most of drug-related crimes and issues are not linked to drug use; but are caused by a dangerous underground economy and other fundamental social problems.

Drug dependence or addiction reliance is an expanding scourge around the world. Drug legalization or at least decriminalization has been discussed for quite a long time as an answer for the drug issue. Indeed, at times authorization appears to be legitimate however in a few circumstances it is most certainly not. The relationship between of crime and drugs, the distinctions and similarities between alcohol and drugs and the advantages of an organized commerce approach in drug legalization. (Bonevac, 2015)

Clearly, there will be some increase in drug use if Narcotics are made legal and accessible at a reasonable price. Yet the benefits of legalization will outweigh the negatives: less crime, more funding available for greater rehabilitation efforts, fewer jail cells and prisoners, better utilization of law enforcement personnel, greater respect for the law and fewer deaths from impure substances. When today’s sociological imagination catches up with reality progress can be made.

This paper will prove that America’s drug laws are ineffective and cause more harm than good. The notion that a state of freedom exists in America is completely voided by narcotic laws. Narcotic laws cause a black market, which raises the prices of drugs to astronomical levels. These high prices cause drug addicts to turn to crime in order to support their habit. There exists substantial evidence that marijuana is less harmful than legal product like alcohol or nicotine. The war on drugs is comparable to the Vietnam War in its harm on the current generation of minorities. The government avoids ending anti-narcotic legislation because of the vast amount of capital which is spent on the war on drugs in terms of law enforcement and prison systems. Also there are many legislators whose campaign corner stones are often getting tough on drugs, to make an about face would mean political suicide. Yes, drugs are illegal. This very fact is what discourages many Americans from using drugs. However the illegality of the substances in question do not stop all people from using. Despite the severe punishment users of illicit drugs face if caught, illicit drug use is widespread in the United States. “According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse's 1992 National Household Survey, more than one in three Americans (36.2%) have used illegal drugs at least once in their lifetime, nearly 28 million Americans (11.1%) used them in the previous year, and almost 14 million Americans (5.5%) used them during the past month” (Skolnick 3). This is clear evidence that the war is not working. Drug addicts will continue using drugs regardless of the penalties associated with procession, simply because they are addicted to these dangerous substances an...

While decriminalizing drugs has been shown to increase a country's overall health, it does little in the way of reducing drug-related violence and the high profits made from selling them. Therein lies the true issue: prohibition gives value to the drugs, and those who distribute them--because they are doing so illegally--have the need to acquire new assets and protect what they already control. "Drugs have little intrinsic value. It’s prohibition that gives an astronomical ‘price support’ to traffickers. The profits are extreme and so are the violence and corruption needed to protect them. Hence the grotesquely cruel methods used by the gangs, making simple decapitation a blessing." (Baird, Vanessa. "Legalize Drugs--All of Them!" Psychology of Drugs and Abuse: 20, paragraph 16. McGraw-Hill Create. VitalBook file.) In addition, making drugs legal could dramatically reduce the amount of people residing in prisons for drug-related crimes, saving billions of dollars that could easily be put to better use with: drug addiction centers, aimed at treating and preventing drug addictions; more funding for better healthcare; as well as improvements in various other beneficial social institutions. Also, criminals that have previously evaded the law could now legally sell and traffic drugs, and they have the potential to be prosecuted for tax evasion--and if successful--effectively "cleaning house" of the drug lords that once ruled the streets. "Only legalization and regulation can break the hold of the criminals. Legal drugs could be taxed. The corrupt network of tax-evading banks and front companies that support the industry by laundering drug money would have to start paying their way." (Baird, Vanessa. "Legalize Drugs--All of Them!" Psychology of Drugs and Abuse: 20, paragraph 17. McGraw-Hill Create. VitalBook file.) This

It seems as if the cry of "legalize drugs!" is heard everywhere. Some argue that legalizing drugs is the way to "win" the drug war. Drug enforcement does place a burden on us. Economic resources are used up that could be used elsewhere. But the consequences of legalizing drugs would make an already large problem out of control. If one examines the arguments behind drug legalization, it becomes apparent that legalizing drugs won't solve any of our Nation's drug problems.

It has affected us all one way or another, we’ve experienced it recreationally, illegally, or via prescription. The ongoing debate whether to legalize and tax, or spend billions in fighting the war, the issue of drug use and abuse has become a hot topic among the American public. Politicians, law enforcement, media, users, and non-users, we all have an opinion, but the question remains: What to do about drugs and drug use in this country? Two authors with vastly different thought regarding this issue, James Wilson and his short reading “Against the Legalization of Drugs,” and Douglas Husak’s interpretation in “A Moral Right to Use Drugs.” Both authors tackle the morality behind drugs and their subsequent effect on society as a whole, but I tend to side with Husak in his belief that the legalization of drugs will lead to less violence, less overall dependency, and more education.

Drug abuse has progressively, over the last thirty years, become a tool for crime organizations and bureaucracies, independent and under the control of the federal government, used to transform drug addiction into a profit through the passage of countless laws against drug abuse. Gore Vidal's assertive essay communicated his belief that drug addiction should be legalized in order to ensure the eventual well-being and individual freedom guaranteed to Americans by the constitution. When drugs were made illegal, freedom of choice for Americans was chiseled away by the hard-hammering central government. Many agree with Vidal in that drugs that are now illegal would be just as dangerous and addictive if they were legalized while abusers would get what they deserved given that they are aware of the often deadly aftereffects of drug use.

Drugs, especially drug abuse has been a very big problem in our country. The selling and use of drugs and illegal drugs is linked to things such as addiction, prostitution, government corruption, and a lot of violent crime. The united states for decades have put certain laws to prevent to use of selling and using illicit drugs but the problem still hasn’t resolved yet. That why people think that the methods we are using are not really making and impact on fixing the problem which is why some people feel that the legalization of drugs should be put in order to help with the problems associated with drugs being illegal or illicit. Although some people suggest that drugs cause problems with health and so on. The legalization of drugs will reduce the