Dr. Hart As A Guest

Legalizing drugs could be what we need help, save more lives after all. Vidal believes that all drugs

In the speech “Why We Need to End the War on Drugs” given by Ethan Nadelmann, a drug policy reformist, Nadelmann gives a compelling and persuasive argument on how and why we should end the war on drugs. Nadelmann describes himself as the oldest son of a rabbi and a human rights activist who works to end the drug war. He urges that the drug war is very dynamic and what the United States is doing in relation to stop it is not effective. This helps launch into what he believes the US should do to end the drug war. A few subjects Nadelmann covers are, legalization of drugs, the effects of the drug war, and why we should treat drug abuse as a health problem rather than a criminal problem. Nadelmann argues that many other countries have seen many improvements after legalizing drugs and changing the way they deal with drug abuse. Overall, I think that Nadelmann’s speech is effective because he does not leave out any key persuasive appeals, he appeals to his audience by bringing up the ideas of health, wellbeing and overall a better society to live in yet, uses statistics and logic to support himself.

Decriminalization of drugs is not the same thing as legalization, not endorsing the use of drugs but instead attempting a different approach at the stop of drug use. Drug dealers and manufacturers are still incarcerated, while drug addicts are given treatment instead of punishment. Should Canada decriminalize drugs and instead treat drug addiction as a health issue? Two percent of the population currently report using hard drugs (cocaine, heroin, speed, etc.) within the past year. Taking into consideration that this number is slowly climbing and that most drug users may not admit to using while the harsh punishments still exist, it is clear that this nation has a drug problem that has no foreseeable end. Canada would benefit from the decriminalization

Drug decriminalization is opposed by the majority of Americans. Leaders in drug prevention, education, treatment, and law enforcement are against it, as are many political leaders. However, pro-drug advocacy groups, who support the use of drugs, are making headlines. They are influencing legislation and having a significant impact on the national policy debate in the United States. Although, pro-advocacy groups claim decriminalization of drugs will lower incarceration rates and boost the economy, drugs must stay illegal in America, if not, more people will use, causing negative effects on health, families and communities.

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

There are many major factors at one point time in society, the most controversial is drug decriminalization. When the topic of drug or drug related discussion arises, many individuals would choose to ignore the topic entirely. Why not approach the topic head on? Attack the issue at its roots and refuse to give up until proven wrong. Drug decriminalization is a topic that needs to be brought to the front of discussion with politics and legislation. State and federal laws should be readjusted and in many cases removed in regards to drug policy. As a society, we need to treat the way we handle drug users and drug cases differently. Our current approach is not working anymore, and it’s time for a change. To change, everything has to change from the start.

Peter Kraska, “The Unmentionable Alternative: The Need for and the Argument against Discriminalization of Drug Laws, “ in Drugs, crime an

When I think about current policy, I know how important it is for America to secure borders and not only reduce Mexican meth, but production of meth within the United States borders. Also, the continuance of offering treatment options to offenders, relieving some of the burden on our overcrowded prison system. Finding effective ways for abusers of any substance to overcome their addictions and helping these people find another way to live and integrate back into society. The 2015 Strategy Focuses on seven core areas: stopping drug use in our neighborhoods, pursuing early intervention chances in health care, merging treatment for substance use disorders into health care and aiding recovery, ending the cycle of drugs, use, crime, and incarceration, obstruction of domestic drug trafficking and production, enhancing international partnerships, and revising information systems to better concentrate on drug abuse and its ramifications (Whitehouse.gov, 2015). It is a comprehensive approach that focuses on prevention, treatment, and enforcement. Federal agencies, mainly the DEA, enforce controlled substance laws in all states and territories, but the bulk of drug crimes known to US Law Enforcement remain handled at a state level. It’s estimated that only 10-15% of illicit stores are actually get confiscated by federal agencies each year (Hart, Pg.72). I know someone who does this for a living and says

A social reformer, a civil philanthropist, and a judge by the name of James(Jim) Gray, strongly believes that no matter how loose or strict prosecutors are on drug offenders the war on drugs is going to continue until the United States can realize that the only way to solve the drug addiction problem in America is to realize that we must rehabilitate and treat drug offenders and addicts in order to prevent and eliminate drug related violence and crime(Gray, J. P. 2011. pp. 19-20). Judge Gray continues on to state that we must see and treat drug users as human beings, which according to judge Gray most Americans do not do this. Judge Gray stated that the zero tolerance policy that we have here in the United States allows little to no room

We should decriminalize drugs in the U.S. instead of legalizing them. Decriminalization refers to the lessening of criminal penalties of certain acts. According to De Marneffe, “… the legalization of drugs … [is] the removal of criminal penalties for the manufacture, sale, and possession of large quantities of recretational drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine” (346).

The so called war on drugs potentially causes the American Taxpayer a loss of more than 20-50 billion annually and there are very little results that can be said satisfactory. This does not include the massive amounts of money that United States pays to a number of countries in South America in order to facilitate the curbing of drugs. Furthermore, an alarming number of inmates held in our prisons happen to be drug abuse offenders. Currently the 55% people incarcerated in the federal prisons happen to be drug offenders while the ratio of same people in the state prisons is 25% (Roffman, 7). Such a huge number of drug inmates have the potential of putting a great amount of stress on the system and has serious implications for the economic growth of the whole country. In such circumstances it is quite obvious that the American “war on drugs” has failed to yield the desired objective and more or less can be considered a failure. Decriminalization and treatment have emerged as very powerful alternatives in the recent years to win the war against the

Baird seems well informed and thoroughly concerned with the matter at hand. She brings on many compelling arguments from many different angles. “This is the so-called balloon effect, where action taken in one place simply pushes the illegal drug problem into another,” (Baird 14). Baird shows her concern for not just one side of issue but the whole issue at large. Baird even goes on to stress her concern over all the deaths and violence due to manufacturing of the drugs, an issue that is not huge in the United States. Walter sticks closer to the same issues throughout his piece. “The charge that "nothing works" in the fight against illegal drugs has led some people to grasp at an apparent solution: legalize drugs,” (Walter) sums up his attitude from beginning to end in his article with this simple

I made a conscientious decision to read Dr. Hart’s memoir with an open mind and a willingness to learn. As I have never had any formal education on drugs and addiction that were based on facts and scientific evidence, I made the determination that Dr. Hart’s memoir was an excellent place for me to begin my journey on educating myself to understand the truth about drugs and addiction. Dr. Hart’s personal life experiences while he was growing up fascinated me and were somewhat relatable. My personal views and opinions were mainly challenged by Dr. Hart’s reflection of his insights and observations that he derived through his life experiences. I would like to add that my personal views and opinions are based solely on personal experience and observation.

Drug legalization is an enduring question that presently faces our scholars. This issue embraces two positions: drugs should not be legalized and drugs should be legalized. These two positions contain an array of angles that supports each issue. This brief of the issues enables one to consider the strengths and weakness of each argument, become aware of the grounds of disagreement and agreement and ultimately form an opinion based upon the positions stated within the articles. In the article “Against the Legalization of Drugs”, by James Q. Wilson, the current status of drugs is supported. Wilson believes if a drug such as heroin were legalized there would be no financial or medical reason to avoid heroin usage;

It’s easy to lose track of the chaos that happens in the world on a day to day basis when your main priority is deciding what to eat for lunch tomorrow, or even dreading your next shift; yet we can turn on the news and hear about the most recent overdose and not even blink an eye. The blatant disregard for drug addicts today is at an ultimate high. In the past two years alone, more people have died from opiate addiction than they have in the entire Vietnam War. The fact that drug users are seen as lower class members of society as only aided in the increase of addiction and death, killing more Americans than HIV/AIDS did at its peak. Though the epidemic did not occur overnight, it has recently become one of America’s biggest health confrontations. Although there is no absolute solution, in order to decelerate the prevailing wave of usage and overdose/death, decriminalization in correlation to government funded programs could give ease to the definition of the word “epidemic”.