Recreational drugs are drugs with psychoactive (mind-altering) effects that are taken mainly for the “high” rather than for a legitimate medical purpose. Recreational drugs are commonly split up into four categories: 1. Hallucinogenic drugs (drugs that distorts a persons perceived reality) 2. Depressants (inhibits function of central nervous system) 3. Stimulants (speeds up functions of the central nervous system). The use of recreational drugs has been a point of contention in politics in recent years. With the legalization of marijuana in the states of Colorado and Washington, there is a question of whether all recreational drugs should be legalized. I believe, however, that in order to keep American civilians safe from extreme cognitive …show more content…
With the legalization of recreational drugs, there would conceivably be a large influx of new customers due to easy access. As a result, more people who might not have tried them before, would sample them due to pure convenience. Although the example about Dave may be a little extreme, it is plausible that there would be as easy access to recreational drugs dispensaries as there is to super markets. In the current system, people have to purchase recreational drugs through black market channels. Resultantly, fewer people are willing to go through said illegal channels at the risk of punishment. Similarly, since access to such substances are limited, it is harder for minors to get ahold of recreational drugs. Yet, if recreational drugs were legalized, it would be much easier for minors to get ahold of drugs. Just like with the purchasing of alcohol, minors would be able to use fake identification and or adults of legal age would be able to buy recreational drugs for minors. Consequently, more of our population would be starting out using drugs at younger age than in our current …show more content…
The nature of the drugs themselves are to receive the best high possible. As a result, if the government were to produce a product that was less “potent”, I believe that people would revert back to old ways with drug dealers producing products that are stronger and more addictive. As a result, regardless of whether the government intervenes with the actual product itself, the drugs on the market will have the same effects and ultimately cause the same detrimental results. In regards to the claim that legalizing drugs will rid people of the liberating effect that taking illegal substances provides, I believe that the increase in users due to the easy access will offset that population. Even though a number of people probably take drugs as ways of rebellion, I believe that population will be offset by the people who will enter the market due to the convenience of public stores selling recreational
“The proponents of drug legalization argue that although drugs can cause health and social problems, these are not sufficient reasons for making them illegal”(Trevino & Richard, 2002, p.105). The other main question that drug users raise are that alcohol and cigarettes both cause extreme harm but they are legal! “A study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) reports that alcohol abuse and alcoholism generated about 60% of the estimated costs ($148 billion), while drug abuse and dependence accounted for the remaining 40% ($98 billion)”(Trevino & Richard, 2002, p.92). Statistics show that there are more issues with alcohol abuse than drug abuse, but drugs are considered much worse in our
The war on drugs in our culture is a continuous action that is swiftly lessening our society. This has been going on for roughly 10-15 years and has yet to slow down in any way. Drugs continue to be a problem for the obvious reason that certain people abuse them in a way that can lead to ultimate harm on such a person. These drugs do not just consist of street drugs (marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy), but prescription medications as well. Although there are some instances where drugs are being used by subjects excessively, there has been medical research to prove that some of these drugs have made a successful impact on certain disorders and diseases.
The argument over drug reform and the current prohibition has been going on for years. It seems to be an argument between a wise parent and a young teenager, but as generations change more and more of the parents seem to switch sides. While prohibitionists say the mainstream drugs like cocaine, heroin, LSD, and marijuana are harmful and immoral, legalizers argue the opposite (Rachels 223). While they are both valid and interesting arguments the drugs named above still remain illegal. Many organizations and respected citizens have come to America’s attention in their support for drug reform or complete legalization of certain drugs. These people range from normal citizens who support the recreational use of marijuana to judges and ex- law enforcement agents who say the war on drugs has been a failure. The drug issue in the United States of America has been going on for years with the counterculture of the sixties up until the more recent medicinal marijuana debates today, and it seems that it is not going to go away anytime soon.
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.
Harmful drugs are an issue that creates controversy just by being mentioned, let alone acted upon by public policy. Despite this, policy actors must address drugs, through action or inaction, for the chance to make our society safer and healthier. Scientists and policy makers tend to agree that some drugs can be harmful to their users (Nordegren, 2002), but there are two broad camps of opinion on how best to protect users from these negative effects. This paper will discuss the ways that the policies of harm reduction and prohibition are formed, and identify the key actors in this policy space.
With the opinion of the American people becoming more allowing of low-level drug use, and the successful monetary generation in states like Colorado, we are now seeing viable alternatives to spending billions of dollars in failed efforts to restrict drug use, unfair imprisonment of minorities, and a dependence of drug users on violent cartels. The opinions of society is ever-changing, and this will certainly have an effect on our drug laws an policies. It is apparent that the negative stigma surrounding recreational drug use -at least with marijuana- is slowly diminishing.
I think that if drugs were legalized, use of legal drugs would tend to rise because it would be easier to obtain them and it may encourage people to try them out. However, the increase would only be for a short time period. In the long run, drug use would decrease because all the users that are using more drugs because they are easier to get would overdose and kill themselves and set an example for other people thinking about trying drugs. Another reason why drug use would decrease is that the reason why some people use drugs is because they are illegal.
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).
Recreational drug use has been controversial for years. Government has deemed the use of certain drugs to be dangerous, addictive, costly, and fatal. Governmental agencies have passed laws to make drugs illegal and then have focused a great deal of attention and money trying to prohibit the use of these drugs, and many people support these sanctions because they view the illegality of drugs to be the main protection against the destruction of our society (Trebach, n.d.). Restricting behavior doesn’t generally stop people from engaging in that behavior; prohibition tends to result in people finding more creative ways to obtain and use drugs. However, just knowing that trying to control people’s behavior by criminalizing drug use does not work still leaves us looking for a solution, so what other options exist? This paper will discuss the pros and cons about one option: decriminalizing drugs.
The second claim is no mystery that prisons are getting overcrowded and numbers are growing rapidly. Decriminalization can reduce the amount of inmates in prison by forty percent and be put in forced rehab. In rehab they will get help for their addiction and hopefully become clean and not go back to old habits. Also the sale of drugs can drop since the user who were once customers will be clean to be able to fit in as productive member of society rather than as a convicted felon and also hurt drug trafficking and sa...
“All things are poisons; there is none which is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy” (Jickells & Negrusz, 2012). In today’s society, the use and abuse of drugs can be seen in all populations and generations. The desire to obtain euphoria is a driving force in the abuse of drugs. The most prevalent drugs are plant based or synthetic counterparts; cannabis, cocaine, diamorphine, or heroin. As drugs become main stream, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) is set with the responsibility of placing such materials on the controlled substances list. The DEA looks at the drugs medicinal uses and potential for addiction. As more and more substances become regulated by government administrations, individuals looking
significant health, social, and crime problems, and legalized drugs would only make the situation worse. The legalization lobby claims drugs are no more dangerous than alcohol, no more harmful than smoking cigarettes. But drunk driving is one of the primary killers of Americans. Do we want our bus drivers, nurses, and airline pilots to be able to take drugs one evening, and operate freely at work the next day? No, of course we don’t so why we legalize drugs that would give us those type of problems. Although, legalization recovering addicts claim that the United States has wasted billions of dollars in its anti-drug efforts. But for those who were saved from drug addiction, it’s as many wasted dollars. Compared to the social costs of drug
ways--both positively and negatively. Drugs often have a bad name even though they help us everyday in medical cases. and the drugs with the worst reputations are not the most abused drugs One may benefit from the legalization of drugs in
Legalizing recreational drugs does not mean making drugs accesible to all people. The drugs that are legal today, alcohol and tobacco (nicotene) aren’t available to just everyone; they are regulated. Only certain people are allowed to buy them. Since the drug trade is unregulated, drugs are sold anywhere they can be (e.g. schools), allowing children to have access to them. If these drugs were illegal, than that trade would stagnate, and children wouldn’t have such easy access to them. It makes sense… do you ever see people in schools selling beer or cigarrettes? Also, the usual cause of drug overdose is the fact that a person cannot know the potency of the drug he/she is taking. There are no standards because the trade of drugs is illegal in the first place. If they were legal, there would be a standard of quality for all drugs, regulated by the FDA.
Leading to an increase in drug experimentation by the youth and an increase in crack houses, where most laced drugs are produced. There is a reason why these drugs are illegal and it 's because of their harmful effects and the damage they cause the human body. Drug users, are often recognized as people who commit crimes, murder, rape, and other violence including burglary. With drug laws, it creates a fear in people of getting in trouble with the law and is a major reason to not use drugs. The legalization of drugs would not lower crimes rates as there would be more and more addicts as well as large black markets for drugs. Although these drug users commit crimes to obtain these drugs, it is obvious to see they would still be committing these crimes to obtain the drug even if it is legalized. Either way, a crime is still being committed they just have an easier way to steal the drug from someone. Which means the crime rates would start to rise, leading to the population of prisoners increasing, which also leads to the government spending more money on organizing jail facilities to hold these prisoners. One state in particular where marijuana is now legal, has started to come to the realization that maybe it wasn’t a good idea to leaglize this drug. Kevin A. Sabet, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the University of Florida and President of SAM points out that,