Have you ever heard the expression “War on drugs”?. That was first used in 1972 when Richard Nixon described a series of govern-mental programs intended to suppress the consumption of certain recreational drugs.
Marijuana was one of them. However the first attack on Marijuana occurred not in 1972 but in1937 when the Marijuana TaxAct was passed. According to Legalizationofmarijuna.com Harry
Anslinger (bureau of narcotics commissioner) testified in hearings on The subject that the hemp plant needed to be banned because it had a violent “effect on the degenerate races.” This referred specifically to Mexican immigrants who had entered the country, seeking jobs during
The Great Depression. The law passed quickly and with little debate.
Making possession of marijuana a criminal offense has only increased crime rates. As more and more people find it enjoyable to smoke. By legalizing marijuana law enforcement will be utilized somewhere of more importance. Because possession of marijuana is a common criminal offense, jails are over crowded and court rooms are cluttered with marijuana cases instead of real problems.
In Amsterdam marijuana was made legal and the result was that Crime rates dropped by 60% and the amount of drug users did not Increase.
Now you may be thinking that marijuana is dangerous, you may Be thinking of all the things you’ve heard about marijuana, like it Causes hallucinations, impairs your vision and judgment, and gives you paranoia. Those are in fact things that smoking marijuana can cause. But they are all short term. Do you want to know how many people a year are killed by marijuana and marijuana related deaths? ZERO. There have been no credible reports of death from marijuna. However, 430,000 deaths a year are caused by Tobacco making it The nations leading cause of death. 116,113 total alcohol related Deaths. And 200,000 deaths from prescription drugs. Now with all the illegal drugs combined there (excluding marijuana) there have been14,218 deaths. And remember there have been zero deaths even remotely related to marijuana. Cigarettes are legal although, according to health.com they are more addictive, cause cancer, damage the respiratory system, raise blood pressure, decrease oxygen to the brain and body, and cigarette smoking is a significant risk factor to the cause of emphysema, chronic bronchitis, stroke, high blood pressure and osteoporosis.
While the War on Drugs may have been portrayed as a colorblind movement, Nixon’s presidency and reasoning for its implementation solidifies that it was not. Nixon coined the term “War on Drugs” in his 1971 anti-drug campaign speech, starting the beginning of an era. He voiced, “If there is one area where the word ‘war’ is appropriate, it is in the fights against crime” (DuVernay, 13th). This terminology solidified to the public that drug abusers were an enemy, and if the greatest publicized abusers were black, then black people were then enemy. This “war” started by Nixon claimed it would rid the nation of dealers, but in fact, 4/5 of arrests were for possession only (Alexander, 60). Nixon employed many tactics in order to advance the progress
In 1940, the import of hemp during World War II was a big factor in creating supplies such as parachutes or cordage. In the 1960’s, President Kennedy found from research that marijuana does not induce violence or lead to heavier drug use. George Washington, the first president of our beloved country, grew cannabis on his plantations. Thomas Jefferson also grew hemp as a reliable
At the time, recreational use of narcotics was not a major social issue. The first regulatory legislation was for the purpose of standardizing the manufacturing and purity of pharmaceutical products. Shortly after, the first criminal laws were enacted which addressed opium products and cocaine. Although some states had prohibited the recreational use of marijuana, there was no federal criminal legislation until 1937. By contrast, the use of alcohol and its legality was a major social issue in the United States in the early 20th century.
then the crime rate will decrease. There will be less drug dealers roaming the street. In the article “New schools, Less crimes: Colorado sees the benefits of legalizing marijuana” by Kit O’Connell, she does some research and finds out that there are less drug dealers roaming streets. The reason is because there are people who open marijuana stores and sells it for less. So as a result, there are less drug dealers because they start to lose their customers. For example, if Jim sell marijuana for $10 but the marijuana store sells it for $5, then more people will go to the store instead of Jim. As a result that is less people ending up in
The war on drugs began with the presidential term of President Nixon in the 1970s. According to drugpolicy.org, “He dramatically increased the size and presence of federal drug control agencies, and pushed through measures such as mandatory sentencing and no-knock warrants. Nixon temporarily placed marijuana in Schedule One, the most restrictive category of drugs.”
Marijuana is the cause of much commotion and debate, as the question of legalization becomes more of an issue. Drugs are a major influential force in countries all over the world today. Legalization is an option that has not had a chance, but really should be given one. Although many people feel that legalizing marijuana would increase the amount of drug use, legalization would benefit for the following reasons: 1)reduction of money spent on law enforcement 2)increase in the countries revenue 3)lessen crime 4)useful in treating certain medical conditions. Many feel today we are losing the war on drugs.
In 1971, President Nixon declared a “war on drugs.” He substantially increased the presence and size of federal drug agencies, and passed legislation like mandatory sentencing laws and unconstitutional warrants. Nixon even listed marijuana as a Schedule One drug, the most constrictive drug category. Over forty years later, the U.S is still waging a war on drugs, spending billions of dollars per year and creating major social issues.
However, in the early 1900’s things changed, and prejudice and fear began to develop around marijuana because it was being used and associated with Mexican immigrants. In the 1930’s, the massive unemployment rates increased public resentment and disgust of Mexican immigrants, which escalated public and governmental concern (PBS, 2014). In 1930 a new federal law enforcement agency, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (FBN) was created. Harry J. Anslinger was appointed the first commissioner of the FBN in 1930 (Filan, 2011). In 1936, as the head of the FBN, Anslinger received several reports about smoking marijuana.
People think that marijuana is the most harmless drug because one never hears of people dying from it or getting deathly ill. This is false because marijuana does things to the body that can not be seen from the outside. The majority of the damage is in the brain and lungs, which can get extremely dangerous. All the bad side effects from this drug will really harm people’s bodies and ruin their futures and lives. Marijuana has many side effects that harm the body.
The world has many different issues, and without them the world would be a perfect place. An issue that causes a lot of controversy is drug abuse. Though the world can never be a perfect place, humans still need to do our best to make in inhabitable as possible, and drugs cause a lot of harm towards humans. Therefore, it is my belief that the first thing that needs to be fixed should be drugs and their abuse. Many possible solutions to this problem exist.
In the early 1980s, policymakers and law enforcement officials stepped up efforts to combat the trafficking and use of illicit drugs. This was the popular “war on drugs,” hailed by conservatives and liberals alike as a means to restore order and hope to communities and families plagued by anti-social or self-destructive pathologies. By reducing illicit drug use, many claimed, the drug war would significantly reduce the rate of serious nondrug crimes - robbery, assault, rape, homicide and the like. Has the drug war succeeded in doing so?
There are excessive numbers of people who remain incarcerated for nonviolent crimes related to illegal marijuana use. Legalizing marijuana would allow these people to be released, opening jail space for the true criminals. Legalizing marijuana would free up law enforcement officers from focusing on illegal marijuana use and allow focus to be put on more serious crimes.
65-92 Riga, Peter J. " Legalization Would Help Solve The Nation's Drug Problem. " Greenhaven Press. 52-54 Rosenthal, A.M. " The Case For Slavery." Kennedy, Kennedy, and Aaron 370-372 " Two Crucial Issues in the Argument for Drug Legalization."
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,
First of all, marijuana can have many positive effects on crime. Legalizing marijuana can actually decrease crime rates in the U.S. This past year, it was counted that 6.9 million people are inside the American’s jails and prisons. 60,000 of these individuals were there for marijuana according to one study. With the legalization of marijuana, it would cut the amount of tax we pay for these jails and prisons, costing us a total of 1.2 billion. Last year a total of 7 to 10 billion dollars was used towards arresting and processing against marijuana. The big picture here is that 90% of those arrests were just for possession. It is crazy that as a country we spend most of our time trying to stop the biggest drug in America when it is just wasting our money. There are less arrests on violent crimes than marijuana charges combined. These “violent crimes” consist of assault, rape, robbery, and murder. How awful is it that we waste our time on this drug when there are so many other bigger problems we could be solving or people to be saved. Cocaine and heroin arrests have actually decreased by 1/3 from 1991 to 2000. While marijuana has more than 700,000 people are ar...