Essay on Drugs - Does America Have a Future?

Keeping drugs illegal will only carry on the on-going drug related cycle: people get caught with possession of drugs, their third time getting caught they get a sentence, go to prison, come out,

In 2015, 1,488,707 people in the United States were arrested on drug charges. Nearly 84 percent of those arrest were for possession only. As one can imagine these arrest impact the American justice system greatly. Within America's prisons in 2010 more than half of all inmates were serving time based on drug related charges. The prisons within America are greatly overcrowded, and I believe that decriminalizing drug use could offer assistance in this situation.

If drugs were legalized, people would have taken advantage and become addict’s who then suffers all forms of social health. Such as becoming dangerous to others, overdosing, or damaging their ability to work and function properly. Keeping them from living a

current system of making drugs illegal is an issue. We have been fighting a war on drugs that never seems to end. If our country were to legalize drugs, there would be a decrease in crime rate, which would be terrific. American’s in today’s world believe that the majority of people who want illegal drugs would steal in order to obtain their drugs. Edmund Harrett, Deputy Chief and Executive Officer, of the Narcotics Division, New York City Police Department, New York, writes, “Many legalization supporters believe that property crime, particularly burglary, larceny from persons (purse snatchers, chain snatchers, and pickpockets), auto theft, theft from autos, and shoplifting would decrease by 40-50 percent if drugs were made legal. Similarly, many believe that the terms “drug-related murder” and “drive-by shooting” would become outdated once drugs were legalized. In their view, turf wars would be eliminated because there would no longer be a need to fight for one’s turf” (policechiefmagazine.com). This quote reveals that there is a serious drug problem in this country, and with legalization we would reduce crime, which is always a positive. By legalizing low-level drugs, we would have a lower crime rate for petty crimes, simply because those who used to steal to fund their habit, would have no reason to anymore. It would be terrific for our government if we had fewer petty criminals plugging up our court systems. Allowing them to focus more time on handling higher risk

There always seems to be debate on whether the decriminalization of drugs would be of great public interest. It is a very important and controversial issue that has many people wondering if legalizing drugs would be a right move or not. In the article, “Decriminalization Would Increase The Use and The Economic and Social Costs of Drugs” by David Mineta, Mineta argues about why drugs should not be decriminalized and how keeping illicit drugs illegal outweigh the possible negative consequences of legalizing these substances. Mineta himself writes that, “Our position is simple and evidence-based: both decriminalization and legalization of illicit drugs would increase their use, along with their associated health and social costs” (Americas Quarterly). According to Mineta the decriminalization of drugs will only allow more people to become addicted causing more health and social costs because seen as they will be more widely used. (Americas Quarterly)

Everywhere you go there is always something to be said about druggies or drug use in America. We see drug deals being made, people stoned and walking the streets. But while all of this is happening, they are all happy as ever. We see all of the drug addicts around the towns and wonder how they got to be this way. While newborn babies are arriving daily with addictions caused by their parents habits, more and more people are getting beat up and children are being abused because of drug use.

Such a comparison can be made between a knife and a gun, prescription drugs being the knife and marijuana the gun. They are both potentially lethal and incredibly dangerous but they have their differences. With a knife, you have to be careless enough to fall on it. With a gun, all you have to be is stupid enough to mess with it. Legalization will increase use of the drug. However, many supporters of continuing the illegalization of drugs believe that by legalizing drugs they will become more accessible and use will therefore increase. They base this argument on past experiment dealing with alcohol prohibition. After the end of prohibition with the 21st amendment, alcohol consumption doubled while prohibition decreased use by 50 percent (Light). They also cite that use of marijuana peaked in 1979 when there was a decriminalization of drug use by eleven states. When researching to find if a particular solution will prove to be fuse, it is important to look at historical examples and learn from them. In Liverpool, England, after a recent legalization of drugs in a regulatory program that focuses on the medical benefits of drugs, most drug pushers have left town because there is no longer a market for them (Cotton). This shows that legalization actually decreases use because of the increased emphasis on rehabilitation and the decrease of drug pushers. In

Will legalizing drugs stop opioid abuse in the U.S? Opponents argued that legalizing drugs like marijuana will only worsen the opioid crisis by viewing marijuana as a gateway drug which could increase the use of other “hard” drugs which are addictive. Further arguing that In the U.S. the increase Americans access to drugs and could put more drugs in the hands of those who suffer for addiction. Without proper education on how to use a drug safely, the health of all the people will be put in a greater risk by legalizing drugs since many illicit drugs available in the U.S. is comparatively dangerous and comes with deadly effects. Looking at cocaine, it is a drug which can lead people to aggressive behavior, while drugs such as ecstasy which is highly addictive, could lead to an overdose. Finally concluding stating that addiction is not just a habit it is also a brain disease which takes a lot of time to overcome and it not treated professionally could lead to

With certain drugs legalized (like marijuana), we could take some of the country’s most dangerous criminals out of business overnight. The legalized drugs could be regulated and taxed by the federal government, and instead of pouring billions into fighting drugs, we could stimulate the economy by opening up a whole new market. Much like Colorado has done so effectively. It is the time the United States moves away from its punitive approach to the drug epidemic. In order to attack the problem at the root, policies should focus on prevention and recovery, rather than punishment. The decriminalization of more harmful drugs (such as heroin) does not mean legalization but rather just a more delicate approach. The government's devotion to increasing resources for detecting, arresting and incarcerating people involved in illicit drug markets has failed and put thousands of sick people away. We need to educate the populous with the truth on addiction to give them a new non-criminal perspective of addicts. You wouldn’t throw an alcoholic in a cell to withdraw on his own. We need to adopt a more

According to the national institute on Drug Abuse, Abuse of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs is costly to our Nation, exacting more than $740 billion annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity and health care (NIDA. 2017, April 24). The rising of illicit drug smuggling and abuse raised questions about legalizing all drug. Although some people think that drugs legalization is a way to control illicit drug use, it seems that it will do more damage to our society than it will help. This essay will help us understand all the implications regarding all drugs legalization in this country.

I think that, like many other things in history, drugs will someday be legal. I mean coffee, gin, and tobacco all used to be illegal, but now all are in regular use in the United States. The Netherlands, who is the only country I know to legalize marijuana, surprisingly has a lower percentage of 10th graders who have tried marijuana when compared to the United States. Maybe people wouldn’t do it

All hard drugs should not be legalized in the United States. Some people would argue that drugs like marijuana, have medical benefits and cause no real physical harm. What these individuals have not considered is the long-term health effects. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse “Marijuana” article, “Other health effects of the use of marijuana include: breathing problems, increased heart rate, and problems with child development during and after pregnancy.” Therefore, the legalization of these drugs would just increase the amount of drug related health problems. In addition to the health issues, crime is another major concern in the controversial topic of drug legalization. The Drug Enforcement Administration has released reports

He thinks legalizing drugs would lower the cost to the allowance budget of a sixth-grader (360-1). Bennett believes that drug use will rise dramatically if legalized. (361). Bennett says that legalization advocates believe the cost of enforcing the drug laws is too great, but they do not ask what is the cost of not enforcing the laws. Bennett thinks the hospitals would be filled, more school dropouts would occur, and more crack babies raise the stakes of legalizing drugs (361). Contrary to Wilson, Bennett argues that crime would not decline with legalization. He believes there is a particular lesson to be learned from Prohibition. He is convinced that when alcohol was illegal, consumption went down, less alcohol-related disease existed, and much less public drunkenness happened(362). Bennett has no doubt law enforcement is needed with drug treatment and education plans and calls for a bigger criminal justice system in the form of drug prevention (363). Bennett holds a relatively strong argument. He blends clear and concise facts with a logical understanding of the matter well within his argument. He shows an understanding of others’ viewpoints by addressing points of opposition several times during the article. Bennett demonstrates knowledge of the subject by supporting his points with examples and facts. In the article “A War for the Surgeon General, not the Attorney General,” by Kurt Schmoke, legalization

I envision a world where drugs and even alcohol are legal.In my eyes the world does not appear different. I feel that even now when drugs (also again including alcohol) are banned, so many people do them illegally that it would not be that big of a difference if they are legalized. Consequently, if they are legalized drug and alcohol abuse might go up and due to that reason there should still be some

Drugs along with alcohol and tobacco are claimed to negatively affect human in both physical and mental ways. While alcohol and tobacco are legally sold and consumed, drug legalization is still a controversial issue in the America. There are twenty three states that have legalized marijuana-an iconic drug substance- for medical purposes. California is the first state in the country that legalized it in 1996, and New York State is the newest member. Even though marijuana is legal in these states, and so far, it has not created any outstanding trouble yet, it is just one type of the hundreds types of drugs. There are more dangerous drugs such as heroin, cocaine, or cracks that severely exploit human’s mind and body. These types of drugs cannot be legal because if drugs are legal, it is approachable for everyone evens children and youngsters, and even more, it leads to health problems. In addition, drug legalization was a failure in other countries and states.