Drugs Should NOT be Legal

Drugs Should NOT be Legal

Everyone agrees that something must be done about the tremendous physical

and emotional health problems that drug abuse causes. Concern about the abuse

of drugs is so widespread that recent polls indicate it to be one of the most

serious problems in today's world, threatening the security and freedom of whole

nations. Politicians, health experts and much of the general public feel that no

issue is more important than drug abuse. America's other pressing social

problems- disease, poverty, child abuse and neglect, and corruption- often have

a common element; that is drug abuse. The use of illegal drugs such as cocaine,

crack, heroin and marijuana cause extensive harm to the body and brain. Yet,

even after knowing this many people want illegal drugs to be legalized in every

aspect. The last thing we need is a policy that makes widely available

substances that impair memory, concentration and attention span; why in God's

name foster the uses of drugs that make you stupid? The campaign for drug

legalization is morally disgusting.The number of people who are addicted to

illegal drugs or are users of these drugs is quite shocking. Drug abuse is

clearly an injurious and sometimes fatal problem. The leaders of the

international economic summit in Paris in July 1989 concluded that the

devastating proportions of the drug problem calls for decisive action. On

September 5, 1989, President Bush called upon the United States to join in an

all-out fight against drugs. The United States Congress reports an estimated 25

to 30 million addicts of illegal drugs worldwide. Not all users are addicts, but

some of the 26 million regular users of illegal drugs in the United States are

addicted. Reports of child abuse to New York social services tripled between

1986 and 1988 and most of the cases involved drug abuse. Approximately 35

percent of the inmates of state prison were under the influence of illegal drugs

at the time they committed the crimes for which they are incarcerated. In some

parts of the country, that percentage is as high as 75 to 80! Another fact that

hits people hard is that out-right deaths from illegal drugs have quadrupled in

the last ten years! The proportion of 19 to 22 year olds who were at risk from

using illegal drugs rose from 44 percent in 1980 to 69 percent in 1987. Among

17-18 year olds the shift over the same interval was from 50 percent to 74

percent (Williams 226)! The abuse of illegal drugs is very threatening to

America's future. These drugs are the cause of many problems and crimes.