Argumentative Essay On Drugs

Drugs, drugs they are everywhere. Gore Vidal, famous writer wrote the article “Drugs”. This is an article stating why Vidal believes all drugs should become legalized. The famous writer Theodore Dalrymple wrote an article called “Don’t Legalize Drugs”? This article is about why Dalrymple believes drugs should not be legalized. Katrina Heuvel, (a famous writer) wrote the article “Why it’s Always Been Time to Legalize Marijuana”. This article is about why Heuvel believes that Marijuana should have been legalized a long time ago. Drugs have been used for many years now, for medical, mental, physical, and personal issues.

The history of drug use dates back for thousands of years with diverse purposes throughout humanity. According to Levinthal (2012), the drug-taking behavior gained federal awareness in the early 1900s, due to the lack of drug control regulations. Moreover, Levinthal (2012) mentions four major drug control laws which were established, including: (1) The Harrison Narcotic Act 1914, (2) The Marijuana Tax Act 1937, (3) The Boggs Act 1951, and (4) The Controlled Substance Act 1970. The drug control laws formed help regulate importation, manufacture, selling, or distribution of drugs within the United States (Levinthal, 2012).

The use of prescription drugs has become prevalent in our society for treating mental illness. Television commercial breaks are inundated with ads for prescription medication. If a person seeking help visits a psychiatrist’s office to get help for depression, anxiety, or ADHD, they are likely to get a quick swipe of a pen on a little white prescription pad and be sent on their way. While prescriptions can reduce or eliminate the symptoms of mental illness, they cannot cure the underlying source of the problem. This has been found to be the case for depression. “The effectiveness of antidepressants is being called into question more and more, while the research behind the value of behavioral interventions is growing. A study suggested that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was as effective in preventing relapse in chronic depression as antidepressants” (Walton). Using medication by itself may give people the relief they need in the short-run, but therapy can have lasting results that will improve the person’s quality of life in lasting ways.

The United States of American is a society built upon principles and laws. These laws and principles were decided to keep Americans safe and help one another co-exist. In the beginning as laws came into being law makers would play it by ear as they decided what could remain legal for the public to take part in and what would be illegal and frowned upon by society. One of the many issues American government has come face to face with issues about making legal or illegal is drugs. Drugs since their first discovery has made a major impact in American history. Some might say that drugs have been destructive to our country, but even so legal or otherwise, one can say that they have contributed to the growth of our nation’s economy. The government

Many currently illegal drugs, such as marijuana, opium, coca, and psychedelics have been used for thousands of years for both medical and spiritual purposes.

Drugs have been around for thousands of years. "A drug is any chemical that produces a therapeutic or non-therapeutic effect in the body (Drugs and Teen Substance Abuse 2000.)" Most drugs were first used for medicinal purposes, such as marijuana. Active substances were not extracted into drugs until the 19th century. Newly discovered substances like morphine, laudanum, and cocaine were completely unregulated and prescribed freely by physicians for a wide variety of ailments. Wounded veterans returned home with their kits of morphine and hypodermic needles (History of Drug Abuse, n.d.) The use of illegal drugs is increasing, especially among young teens. The conflict theory of social problems states that, "society is marked by conflict due

The United States has been fighting the war on drugs for over thirty-five years and the war still continues. The United States spends $50 billion per year to eradicate drugs from this county (Sharp, 1994). According to the DEA (2015), estimates we capture are less than ten percent of all illicit drugs. In the 1920’s America had the prohibition of alcohol, and this effort demonstrated that after a market is established for a product that is easily made, the government cannot stop people from getting it (Blair, 2012). The government cannot stop it because of supply and demand; if someone wants something, someone is going to find a way to make it for profit. The government can, on some level, cover the boarders to stop drugs from coming into the United States, but the production of drugs is happening in their own backyard. The United States is also saying that certain “drugs” are okay to use (Alcohol, Tobacco), and make billions of dollars off these products per year. The United States knows these two legal substances cause high amounts of death per year, yet they remain legal, because the United States is profiting off of these substances.

The history of the regulation of drugs in America can be traced back to the 1800s. The first drug prohibition began with opium sales between China and the US. Some trace the prohibitions to racism while others argue that it is a moral issue that effects society negatively (drugpolicy.org).

For many years, people have been using psychoactive drugs. “In the 1800s, few jurisdictions were in control of the psychoactive drugs. The first half of the century, many were permitted to purchase and drink alcohol. Politicians to the military. There has been tax records that indicated that in the 1830s, per-capita alcohol consumption was more than three times to what it is in the present. The amount of addicts in the past was about 3.7 addicts per 1,000 people. In present day, about one million people are addicted to heroin which is around 3.55 per 1,000. The numbers should not be taken lightly. Since the 19th-century legal system, addicts have slowly slowed down. Gangs did not distribute drugs as much. The United States’ laws today prohibit the possession and distribution of most psychoactive substances. Yet the United States still arrest many for drug offenses and offenders.” (Goode, 2004) “Many of the illicit drugs used in the United States are from Mexico, and most of the revenue of Mexican bargaining organizations comes from sales to the States. Thinking of this as a single divide drug

Obviously drugs and alcohol have been around for centuries, but they way they are used today pale in comparison to how they were used a couple of decades ago. Originally drugs and alcohol were used utilized for antibacterial or medicinal reasons and were treated with respect. However, as the years passed people discovered that drugs and alcohol could be used to make their problems "disappear." Thus leading to a long line of recreational drug use. Although the question "why people use recreationally?" still exists.

Drugs and alcohol shouldn’t be sold in the U.S. For many years it has caused problems and many accidents involving killing and getting people injured. It is a very bad thing that can control people’s minds and make them do bad things. It should be banned in the U.S. for good and should be illegal to sell to people of any age.

There is an increase in drug use in the United States and across the world. This comes from simple supply and demand economics. There will be always a need to have drugs in society; drugs have been around for thousands of years to help people ease the pain of what ails them. The effects of drugs and feeling of euphoria they produce when taking them makes it easy for drugs to be overused. The indigenous population of America (Indians) had been using drugs for years prior to Christopher Columbus landing in America (Maisto, Galizio, & Connors, 2015, p. 26). For years, the United States did not have any laws about drug use. They sold opiates in markets just like bread and milk.

Since the 1960s, State and federal law enforcement have become more focused into putting an end to drug use. Each year, crimes related to drug use has increased, making the government spend tens of billions of dollars arresting, convicting, and jailing drug users. Because of this ongoing problem, the government can’t help but to wonder “will this ever end?” and “Should we stop fighting?” With these questions being raised about a problem so conflicted, The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch have different views and opinions regarding the Drug War’s Standpoint.

Countries have been making drugs illegal over the years for varieties of reasons - be it to combat a perceived moral or health epidemic, to single out certain groups of people, or to reflect religious influences. Even when some drugs do not present notable health dangers, governments ban them. While there are many drugs that are unhealthy when abused, the drug policies around the world, particularly the United States, are inconsistent and oppressive. Drug laws were supposedly created for the good of society, but the prohibition of drugs only serves to cause problems, violence, and unrest.

Until the early 20th century there were virtually no restrictions on the production and consumption of drugs. Interestingly, many new or "well-forgotten old" drugs were first utilized in the United States, and then they spread in other countries, so that America is as it set the tone in the international drug use.