Should Drug Laws Remain Restrictive?

Stated Reason: because legalization would greatly increase the number of drug addicts, because are hard to control.

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, drug use became a major concern for most Americans. As the War on Drugs and “Just Say No” campaign were being thrust into the spotlight by the government and media, the public became more aware of the scope of drug use and abuse in this country. The federal and states’ governments quickly responded by creating and implementing more harsh and punitive punishments for drug offenses. Most of these laws have either remained unchanged or become stricter in the years since then.

Drug laws are a big factor when it comes to the daily lives of citizens. As Bill Rounds puts it, “Laws of prohibition always affect the level of privacy citizens have if they are used as a pretext to invade privacy.” The government has certain laws on what they can and cannot do. So, if there are more strict laws on drugs, it gives the government the right to invade your privacy to enforce these laws. Drug laws are not the only issue that affects the people.

In the article “Drugs” by Gore Vidal the author claims that if the United States wants to stop most drug addiction, crimes, value of the product. Then they should simply make all drugs available and sell them at cost. The first strategy the authors addresses is that if drugs were to be available to everybody then it will stop most drug addiction. The author claims that if drugs were to be sold there would be regulations towards having this allowed. For example, the people who are mentally ill will not be able to consume the product, because it will attract an addiction towards them and that is what they are trying to avoid. For those who are not mentally ill will be able to use the product. The author claims that their will always be drug addicts, but at least their will be not as many as there were before. The second strategies the author addresses are that if drugs were to be allowed by consumers then crimes towards drugs will decrease, because it being allowed to use. The mafia and drugs dealers will not have any penalty towards them for having or selling drugs for it being not an issue to use hear in the United States. I agree with the author claims upon crimes not being an issue no more if drugs were to be allowed to use here in the United States. I think over the years there has been a numerous amount of people in jail for having and selling drugs and having them in jail is costing the American people allot of money. I believe the real criminals here are

To begin with , eliminating drug restrictions will massively reduce crime. This is because most of the crime in the world is caused by people having drugs. Recent research shows that nearly half of all 15-16 year olds have used an illegal drug. Many people see illegal drug

Drug policy in America has not changed much over the past two decades, but according to Sacco (2014) “over the last decade, the United States has shifted its stated drug control policy toward a comprehensive approach; one that focuses on prevention, treatment and enforcement (p.1). One approach to this is allotting billions of dollars to the Federal Drug Control Budget. As of 2014, the majority of funding for this budget went into supply reduction (59.9%), demand reduction (40.1%), and domestic law enforcement (36.8%). Only 35 percent of the funding was provided for treatment of drug abuse, and 5.1 percent for drug abuse prevention (Sacco, 2014, p.16). These numbers have not changed since 2005, when they were within a 5 percent difference

We have seen attempts by law enforcement to stop the distribution of drugs. It isn't working. We have seen attempts to punish the users. It isn't working. The answer seems to be that we need to take it to the most basic level, education.

Drug Policy in the United States began under the Presidency of Richard M. Nixon, who launched the “War on Drugs” and oversaw the creation of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The sole purpose of both initiatives was to combat the copious amounts of drugs flowing out of our borders. Then First Lady Nancy Reagan, who will go down in history as the greatest First Lady of All Time, launched “Just Say No”. A campaign aimed towards the youth to refuse the vices of drug and alcohol abuse. These policies were perpetuated in the 1990s under the Clinton Administration who passed their own tough on crime initiatives as well. The upside, the implementation of these policies has caused the drug use rates to equal where they were 25 years ago. On the downside, the United States imprisons more people than any other industrialized nation in the world because of the drug offenses.

In order to find an alternative to the United States current drug policy, it is helpful to look at the current options. Governments typically take three broad approaches toward drugs. The first is legalization, in which possession and sale are lawful but still subject to regulation and taxation. The second is criminalization, which consists of the banning of possession and sale with criminal punishment (i.e incarceration). Lastly, there is the combination of the two—where sale and possession are prohibited, yet possession is punishable only by sanctions, such as fines or abuse treatment but not jail time.

The war on drugs in the United States is becoming a major problem for everyone involved. As more people are arrested for drug crimes, the more police are spending resources in order to arrest them. It's shown that non violent drugs offense have risen over the years, but violent and property offenses have gone down. While this doesn't suggest that police are solely focus on just arresting non violent drug offenders, one has to wonder why there are so many of them in jail. The government believes that locking up these offenders will reduce drug related crimes and lower demand for drugs, but I don't see that happening. During the late 20's and early 30's, the U.S had a prohibition on alcohol and it caused an uproar with the public. The prohibition

It might seem like the United States has become more lenient on drug enforcement and addiction. Considering that municipalities removed penalties for bringing in someone overdoing on drugs into the emergency room and have lowered the minimum amount of time someone spends in prison for drug possession.

Illegal drugs are inevitable and are not going anywhere no matter how hard the United States fights. Reforming the United States War on Drugs would strategically bring money into the states and deplete the bank accounts of the drug lords. The United States abandon the prohibition on drugs and allow the government to control the shipment, production and distribution of drugs recommends The Latin American Caribbean. (Francis, J. N., & Mauser, G. A., 2011) If the United States Federal Government controlled the market place and brought in massive amounts of sources for taxes brining in a vast amount of money. By utilizing this strategy and approach the United States Federal Government would have a start to ending the war on drugs.

Each year, the President of the United States releases an updated version of the National Drug Control Strategy. The latest edition, from July of 2014, introduces a number of changes from previous years. The most important aspects of President Obama’s drug policy includes accepting those who do drugs as individuals who need help, and are the victim of a disease, rather than as criminals who are intentionally being menaces to society. This approach is very progressive, as there is a tradition in America to penalize those who have drug charges as though they are criminals, all while many people agree that money should be saved in this area. The idea that drug use is a victimless crime (of course, with the exception of violent drug-related crimes,

Throughout time, United States drug policy has shifted dramatically. From all drugs being legal to Prohibition and the War on Drugs, the US has had conflicting ideas about what is best for society and American citizens when it comes to drugs. The current War on Drugs has resulted in countless arrests and years served in prison, and has disproportionately hurt minority communities, only to result in largely unchanged use and death rates for illicit substances. Marijuana, Heroin, and Cocaine have all become cheaper and more pure

Drug policy has never been truly essentialists and very frequently is just used as a scapegoat for other social issues. This all started with the temperance movement. Temperance according to the Judeo-Christian bible meant moderation, but policy makers turned temperance into the idea of abstinence. With the popularization of distilled liquors, there began to become an awareness of alcohol dependence and abuse. During the industrial revolution large populations of immigrants began moving into cities. High alcohol content, and a growing population lead to more visible alcohol problems. Along with that there was a growing movement towards Nativism. Propaganda was used to help demonize alcohol in the eyes of general society. Post WWI alcohol was viewed, as a way for the German’s to ruin our pure family