Why legalize marijuana?
"I see America with half the number of prisons, half the number of prisoners, 10,000 fewer homicides a year, inner cities in which there 's a chance for these poor people to live without being afraid for their lives, citizens who might be respectable who are now addicts, not being subject to become criminals in order to get their drug, being able to get drugs for which they 're sure of the quality."
Isn 't it a gateway drug to harder substances?
"The effect of criminalization is to drive people from mild drugs to strong drugs... Crack would never have existed in my opinion if you had not had drug prohibition. It was drug prohibition- why was crack created? Because cocaine was so expensive." [Cocaine was
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The compassionate response is to do everything possible to prevent the destruction of addiction, not make it easier.”17
CNN) -- From certain precincts on the left, notably Barney Frank , to certain precincts on the right, notably the editorial page of National Review , we are witnessing a new push to end the so-called war on drugs and legalize drug use, starting with marijuana. Indeed, Ron Paul, Barney Frank 's co-sponsor in the latest legislative effort, said recently he would go so far as tolegalize heroin .
It 's a bad idea. My friends at National Review begin their case by stating the illegalization of drugs has "curtailed personal freedom, created a violent black market and filled our prisons." But the legalization of drugs, including marijuana, would exacerbate each of these problems.
Ron Paul, Barney Frank: End pot prohibition
Starting with the basics, keeping drugs illegal is one of the best ways to keep drugs out of the hands -- and brains -- of children. We know three things here: First, children who don 't use drugs
The Drug War has been a policy and a battle to stop drug flow into the U.S, cease drug production and to completely illuminate drugs entirely but results have shown otherwise. In 1971, President Richard Nixon first declared the Drug war and classified drugs as a number one public enemy shortly after drug use hit its peak in the 1960’s. The U.S previously had anti-drug laws but the laws were light and directed mainly to minorities. The following President Jimmy Carter believed in decriminalizing Marijuana and certain portions of Marijuana were legal to possess during his term but the legalization was shortly lived. A new attempted solution was a program Nancy Reagan, President
specifically, I will outline our nation 's general drug history and look critically at how Congress has influenced our current ineffective drug policy. Through this analysis I hope to show that drug prohibition policies in the United States, for the most part, have failed. Additionally, I will highlight and evaluate the influences acting on individual legislators ' decisions to continue support for these ineffective policies as a more general demonstration of Congress ' role in the formation of our nation 's drug policy strategy. Finally, I will conclude this analysis by outlining the changes I feel necessary for future progress to be made. Primary among these changes are a general promotion of drug education and the elimination of our current system 's many de-legitimating hypocrisies.
They were given the drug without knowing what they were taking. In fact, addictions to morphine were largely due to lack of knowledge on the drug. The addiction was the result of accidental use and insufficient information on its effects.
Also, the more drugs we have legal in the United States the more health problems that will occur and we will have a lower economic productivity. In the newsletter, when Charles said “My circle of friends got tighter and tighter, until we excluded anyone who wasn’t cool enough to understand the thrill of losing one’s mind. Instead of expanding my horizons, drugs made them narrower and narrower.” The last sentence in that statement made me realize that drugs do have a major effect on people even if they don’t realize it. People should succeed in life by their own powers, not by how drugs make them feel.
Prohibition is often mentioned as an argument for legalization of other drugs. Drugs including opium and cocaine are considered criminally possesed as a part of the Dangerous Drug act of the 1920’s. Many argue that not legalizing some drugs could have the same effect that prohibition of alcohol had on society. Such as how today there is organized crime, gangs, that sell drugs just like how alcohol is being sold by bootleggers and organized crime during prohibition. Another argument is that if other drugs would be legal the government would make money from it, helping the economy and producing jobs.
In a recent interview with David Remnick, a journalist from The New Yorker magazine, President Barack Obama made some controversial remarks about legalizing marijuana. President Obama stated that he did not think that marijuana was “more dangerous than alcohol” (Remnick). This comment has caused proponents of legalizing marijuana to praise the President, while opponents are criticizing him for seemingly supporting this banned substance. Author Frank James of NPR.org wrote an article entitled “Obama's Marijuana Remarks Light Up Legalization Debate.” James explains how those who support legalization were encouraged by Obama’s comments. In contrast, an article published by FoxNews.com entitled “Taking a Hit: Anti-Drug Groups Rebuke Obama
As a nation we face a serious enemy that is not on foreign soil but here at home. The drug problem in this country has truly affected many lives and families. This enemy has no limits and affects our domestic tranquility. All drugs should not be legalized because they have the ability to impair judgment and do much bodily harm. Drugs have been a dark shadow lingering over our country for many years. In recent years, the heroine epidemic has spread throughout the nation; it has taken many lives and hurt many families along the way.
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
I don’t think that legalizing drugs is a good idea, because there would be an increase in the amount of deaths due to overdose. I think the crime rate would also increase due to people not being able to think clearly, Marijuana is the most commonly used drug, and has a
The debate over the legalization of drugs continues to disturb the American public. Such an issue stirs up moral and religious beliefs, beliefs that are contrary to what Americans should believe. I ask all of you to please keep an open mind and hear me out on this very controversial subject. All of us have in some way or another been affected by drug, whether it is a family member or the economic burden on society. Americans often take at face value the assumptions that drugs cause addiction, which leads to crime. This is true but abundant evidence exists to support the view that legalizing illicit drugs can help solve the drug problem in America. There is not a way to stop
Marijuana is the most common drug in America and all over the world. It is legalized in some countries, but most countries prohibit its use. It has proven medical abilities and was used for this purpose for a while before being federally criminalized. The United States has been debating on the legalization of marijuana with some states supporting the move and others against it. ("10 Facts About Marijuana") Despite all these debates, the legalization of marijuana is the better option of the two. Legalizing marijuana will result in medical, economic and social benefits all over America.
“Should Drugs Be Legalized” by William Bennett The war on drugs has been an endless fight in the United States and in other countries. It has created overcrowding in prisons and bloodthirsty drug war. Billions and billions of U.S dollars are spending every year trying control something that is unstoppable. Illegal drugs influence affect people every day of their lives.
Many feel today we are loosing the war on drugs. People consider legalization unnecessary. They feel that it will increase the amount of drug use throughout the world. They state that
The so-called “War on Drugs,” as declared by the Nixon administration in the signing of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, marked the beginning of the current era of mandatory minimum sentencing, racism, privatized prisons, and a powerful constituency that profits as a result of the prohibition of drugs. Psychoactive substances have been apart of the human experience as long as humans have walked the earth. There is little hope that drug production will ever be curtailed, so long as there is a demand; a demand that has remained steady even though it has been forty years since the beginning of said war. As Judge James P. Gray from the Superior Court of Orange County has so plainly put it: “Where did this policy
Proponents on the legalization of drugs believe if drugs were to become legal; the black market worth billions of dollars would become extinct, drug gangsters would disappear, addicts would stop committing crimes to support their habit and the prison system would not be overwhelmed with a problem they cannot defeat. The decriminalization of drugs will only make illegal drugs cheaper, easier to get and more acceptable to use. “The U.S. has 20 million alcoholics and alcohol misusers, but only around 6 million illegal drug addicts. If illegal drugs were easier to obtain, this figure would rise”(Should Drugs be decriminalized? No.November 09, 2007 Califano Joseph A, Jr).”