“The war on drugs” – anyone who has watched the news in the last 20 years at some point probably has heard this phrase. This phrase refers to the major issue we face in America with hardcore drugs in or cities. Heroin, Methamphetamine, LSD, and GHB are a few examples of the drugs that tear apart people’s lives. These hard drugs have the power to plagues user’s neighborhoods and impact our society at many different levels. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has classified all of these highly addictive drugs as Scheduled I substances, which means these drugs contain no medical use and can cause serious physical and/or mental dependence to the chemical compounds found in all of these psychoactive drugs. Marijuana, also classified as a Schedule …show more content…
With many states now legalizing Marijuana all around, the time is now for the DEA to de-schedule Marijuana as a whole and classify this plant as an exempt from scheduling, similar to tobacco and alcohol. By de-scheduling marijuana, the DEA’s resources can be focused elsewhere, open research will be legally allowed in the medical field potentially benefitting millions, and economic prosperity may follow with safety for recreational users as doctors with the negative stigma being …show more content…
Soon after the DEA classified Marijuana as a schedule I drug, a cry for change began to be heard. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) immediately fired for a petition to remove Marijuana from schedule I judgment. NORML won two judgments against DEA in federal court because they did not examine the petition filed. After the second ruing for the DEA to look at the petition, the DEA’s chief of administrative law judge Frances Young, declared that Marijuana did not meet the criteria required to be labeled as a schedule I substance, and for Marijuana to be moved into Scheduled II. However, DEA chief administrator in 1986, John lawn, exercised his power and overruled the judge’s decision. All this started merely three months after George W. Bush I began is war on drugs. By overruling the judge’s decision exposed flaws in the DEA’s thought process. How can high positioned members in the same organization have conflicting views? The chief Administrator ignored the ruling even after Francis Young openly expressed has views towards Marijuana and stated that the plant is, “’One of the safest therapeutic active substances known to man.” John Lawn contradicted his own decision one year prior when he scheduled Marinol as a schedule II drug. Marinol, prescribed for nausea in chemotherapy,
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
Drug use has been an ongoing problem in our country for decades. The use of drugs has been the topic of many political controversies throughout many years. There has been arguments that are for legalizing drugs and the benefits associated with legalization. Also, there are some who are opposed to legalizing drugs and fear that it will create more problems than solve them. Conservatives and liberals often have different opinions for controversial topics such as “the war on drugs,” but it is necessary to analyze both sides in order to gain a full understanding of their beliefs and to decide in a change in policy is in order.
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.
Just as alcohol prohibition during the 20’s and 30’s was not successful, marijuana prohibition has not been successful either, as evidenced by its current and increasing popularity in the United States. According the deputy director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, Mr. Paul Armentano, marijuana was made illegal in the United States with the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 (2014). Later, Congress classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substance Act of 1970 (Armentano, 2014). Since then, hundreds of thousands of Americans have been arrested for the possession, distribution and use of marijuana. According to Professor Katherine Beckett, “there were 829,625 marijuana arrests” (Beckett, et.al., N.D.) in 2006 and that number is increasing. The debate on whether or not to legalize marijuana for recreational use has raged for decades but is beginning to see the light of day with the recent state-level victories. With Washington and Colorado guiding the way, the country as a whole is considering the issue of whether or not marijuana should be legalized. If legalized, tax revenues could potentially generate millions, if not billions, of dollars annually for state and federal coffers. Marijuana should be legalized. Legalization will not increase usage nor will the current prohibition decrease usage; however tax revenue from the distribution and sale of marijuana could benefit many state programs and even possibly eliminate governmental deficits in the future.
Ever since marijuana’s introduction to the United States of America in 1611, controversy of the use and legalization of the claimed-to-be Schedule I drug spread around the nation. While few selective states currently allow marijuana’s production and distribution, the remaining states still skepticize the harmlessness and usefulness of this particular drug; therefore, it remains illegal in the majority of the nation. The government officials and citizens of the opposing states believe the drug creates a threat to citizens due to its “overly-harmful” effects mentally and physically and offers no alternate purposes but creating troublesome addicts hazardous to society; however, they are rather misinformed about marijuana’s abilities. While marijuana has a small amount of negligible effects to its users, the herbal drug more importantly has remarkable health benefits, and legalizing one of the oldest and most commonly known drugs would redirect America’s future with the advantages outweighing the disadvantages.
Ever since the federal criminalization of marijuana in the United States in 1937, there has been a large underground drug market (Paul). Much like how the prohibition of alcohol simply forced imbibers underground, those who chose to partake in marijuana are forced to stay away from the prying eye of the law because of present marijuana laws. This means the drug world is concealed from the average citizen, hiding the dangers of drug deals gone wrong, police shootings, and other dangerous occurrences. In a way this allows the government to mask the fact that their well-funded ‘War on Drugs’ is ineffective, a ‘War’ with a budget of roughly twenty billion dollars; which is not profoundly effective in the curbing the use of drugs (Jillette). If the average citizen does not know what is happening, in the eyes of the American zeitgeist, it is not happening. Criminalizing a harmless drug to cut down on its use simply turns its users into criminals, making the crime rate go up and clogging prisons with non-violent criminals. Marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco and the laws pertaining to it should reflect that.
Aside from the violence and costly attempts of control that accompany drug trade, there are severe social implications of the U.S war on drugs. One of the major social topics today is that of Marijuana use and punishment in America. Since 1937, over 26 million Americans have been arrested for Marijuana use. [2] The effects and harms are still debated today, yet many people serve time in jails and prisons, waiting to be released with criminal record that will follow them for the rest of their life. Further, those incarcerated are represented by a disproportionate amount ...
The legalization of marijuana is a smoldering topic that sparks a debate anytime someone brings up the controversial subject. It is listed on the top of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) drug schedule listing as a controlled Schedule I substance. According to the DEA, “Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence.” Yet, the United States has allowed 20 states to legalize it for medicinal purposes; and, two of those states are legally allowed to use it recreationally. That makes 40% of the country obtain a prescription, while the other 4% are stoners. Why such a discrepancy? Because someone always has to make the rules, while others are just trying to break them.
Marijuana, acid, and heroin were being used liberally in the 1960s by a generation that embraced drugs as part of a new cultural movement. Later in 1969, studies would link drug use with crime. People looked to the government to aid the situation. In 1970, the Narcotics Treatment Administration was founded to try to control drug use. That same year President Richard Nixon established the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, he coined it “the war on drugs”. Title II of this act, the Controlled Substance Act, brought together many laws passed since the Harrison Narcotics tax act of 1914. It put drugs into categories called schedules in accordance with their potential for abuse. The CSA also set forth regulations on who and how these drugs would be handled and also put into place harsh penalties for the illegal h...
The drug problem in the U.S. and around the world is an important issue and seems to be a difficult problem to tackle across the board. The inflow of drugs has become one of the largest growths in transnational crime operations; illicit drug use in the United States makes it very difficult for nation states police and customs forces to get a handle on the issues. War on drugs, drug trafficking has long been an issue for the United States. There has been a proclamation of “war on drugs” for the past 44 years.
“Office of National Drug Control Policy.” The White House. USA, 1 Dec. 2011. Web. 8 Dec. 2011. .
Legalization of Marijuana has quickly become a controversial issue in America. In the United States, legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes is spreading to the state level. For example, in November 1996, the people of California and Arizona voted to legalize marijuana for medicinal reasons. As a result of Proposition 215 in California, patients now smoke marijuana provided their physician recommends its usage. A prescription is not required, and marijuana continues to be illegal to prescribe. The Clinton administration responded that it “would not recognize these decisions, and would prosecute physicians who recommend or provide marijuana to their patients.” Although California and Arizona are the only two states to have already passed laws regulating marijuana usage, twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have laws and resolutions regarding marijuana usage. These laws and resolutions range from establishing therapeutic research programs, to allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana, to asking the federal government to lift the ban. Despite the states’ desires to have marijuana legalized for medicinal purposes, the US National Institutes of Health examined all existing clinical evidence about smoked marijuana and concluded that, “There is no scientifically sound evidence that smoked marijuana is medically superior to currently available therapies.”
In 1996 ,the state of California passed a ballot that allowed doctors to use medical marijuana for different health cases and not get penalized for doing so. Other states such as Arizona, Oregon, Nevada, and Washington also allowed the use marijuana. Several medical organizations support the use of medical marijuana and even endorse it, but Congress has passed “a resolution condemning the medical use of marijuana and because federal law still outlaws marijuana use,” ( McFarling p.2). As a result of Congress’s actions , the few physicians that are allowed to use medical marijuana are very hesitant to prescribe marijuana to their patients. The physicians who are hesitant are afraid of losing their career but those doctors who really care about the patient’s health will do their best to find the right medication.
Despite the 1976 ruling by the federal government that marijuana has “no acceptable medical use”, sixteen states have passed medical marijuana laws that allow for patient use o...
Marijuana has been a problem since the early 1900s and continues to create problems. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics created a law which prohibited marijuana use in 1937 (Reinarman 128). Twenty years later, THC was discovered to be the main psychoactive component in marijuana causing its negative side effects (Reinarman 129). Almost seventy-five years later, the United States is still battling the problem with illegal marijuana use. Although scientists discovered the negative effects fifty years ago, the information has gone practically unnoticed and the amount of users continues to increase. Approximately half of the United States population has used marijuana at one point (Reinarman 129). Instead of outlawing marijuan...