The Ethics Of Legalizing Drugs

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).”

Within this paper I will ask the reader to consider different ethical aspects of the legalization of marijuana, utilizing data provided and studies from the past, attempting to further convey my stance as being pro-legalization of marijuana.

The arguments that I have just laid out are not perfect and they have some apparent flaws that some philosophers would strongly disagree with, while there are other arguments that some of the great philosophers would agree with. I will critique the arguments that I have just laid out using the perspective of three different philosophers who all have their own ideas of how the state should function and the role of the citizen. The three philosophers that I will use in this critique will be Karl Marx, John Stewart Mill, and John Locke. The reason why I picked these three philosophers is because they all agree with some aspects of my writing, while disagreeing with others. One will disagree with the role of the state and the citizens, but

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

“It’s finding out where we came from that helps guide us to where we are going.” - Mona Rodriguez. This quote means that we should know where we came from and the mistakes that we made where we were from so we don’t make the same mistakes later in life. Prohibition made alcohol illegal, but the government band was not a success. This is one past example that the quote mentions that past mistakes should guide the future action. Although drugs should be illegal, it should only be used for medical purposes.

It seems every decade marijuana studies show that it has no side effects on users, in turn it become more available like when some states in America had legalized it. Dr Kevin M. Gray believes that the only side effect of smoking weed is the physical addictions it causes, he believes that over 51% of all teens have used weed at least once and the biggest problem we are facing with this rapidly growing drug use is only addiction. Dr Marshall M. Gay believes that the health effects of weed isn’t that much as smoking cigarettes and doesn’t see it a threat to people’s health. “More than half (51%) of adolescents reported that marijuana is fairly or very easy to obtain.2 this ease of availability may have contributed to a recently reported "reverse gateway" from cigarettes use to marijuana”. The more ignored belief is that marijuana can lead to a variety of developmental, mental and physical side effects. The effects of smoking weed can extend to those of smoking cigarettes “studies show regular marijuana use can lead to many of the same

The quote, "States that have adopted medical marijuana laws have experienced few, if any, significant problems. Several recent studies have found that medical marijuana laws do not result in an increase—and might actually result in a decrease—in rates of marijuana use as well as traffic fatalities, prescription overdose deaths, suicides, and crime rates," from the article Marijuana Should Be Used for Medical Use proves that the legalization of marijuana has benefitted communities and helped crime and danger rates decrease. People could argue that the legalization of medical marijuana could severely damage communities increasing crime rates and drug trade. It is a known fact that the illegal trade of marijuana, in many cases, results in crime and many broken laws particularly for the possession of an illegal substance. The quote “A 1990 scientific survey of oncologists (cancer specialists) found that 54% of those with an opinion favored the controlled medical availability of marijuana and 44% had already suggested at least once that a patient obtain marijuana illegally” from the article Medical Marijuana Should Be Legalized suggest that the legalization of marijuana is strongly supported by communities themselves, and that ill patients shouldn’t have to risk getting in trouble with authority for the possession of marijuana for their health issues. The statistics show that the

The Office of National Drug Control Policy says marijuana plays a bigger role in a serious U.S. drug problem than most people realize. Consider: Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. About 75 percent -- or 14.6 million of the nearly 20 million illicit drug users -- are using marijuana. Of the 7.1 million Americans dealing with illegal drug dependence or abuse, 60 percent are hooked on marijuana or abuse it. More young people are being treated for marijuana dependency than for booze or for all other illegal drugs combined, the office says marijuana's daily use among eighth, 10th and 12th grade students has increased over the last year, according to recent survey results released by the office. Youths who use marijuana -- particularly those in their later teen years -- are more likely to do poorly in school, stand a better chance of getting into trouble and tend to have more sexual partners. And, while there's no shortage of backers for legalizing marijuana, it has proven to be a psychologically addictive drug with plenty of downside to society, the Office of National Drug Control Policy says

First, the federal government believes that if legislation is passed in legalizing marijuana, illicit drug abuse will increase among the general public (Clark, Medical marijuana: Medical necessity versus political agenda). Secondly, the DEA fears that marijuana serves as a “gateway” drug for harder drugs such as cocaine, heroin, etc. Finally, the federal government contends that legalizing marijuana for medical purposes would contradict the nation’s zero tolerance policy on the use of illicit drugs. Therefore, this legalization could result in corrupting adolescents into believing that illicit drug use is tolerable and even helpful to some degree (Clark, Medical marijuana: Medical necessity versus political agenda). It is the fear of law-makers that similar to alcohol and tobacco marketing techniques, marijuana distributors will advertise to adolescents that substance abuse is socially acceptable (Joffe). While the government focuses its attention on the potential social harms that may or may not arise, thousands of patients suffer from not being given this access to

In the United States today, an approximated 24.5 million people are abusing drugs. The most popularly abused drug out of them all is marijuana, also known as cannabis, weed, etc. Everybody has their own opinion on whether or not marijuana should be legalized, but they do not know enough about the subject matter to make a knowledgeable decision. What many people do not know is that there are a countless amount of health risks that are likely to come from smoking marijuana. Consuming cannabis can have significant effects on both your mental and physical health. Heavy use of the substance has even been proven to lead to reduced brain function, which causes individuals to go through life at a reduced intellectual level. Credible

The purpose of this article is to teach and educate people on how legalizing drugs actually makes sense. Before I read the article I had already disagreed with the title, however after reading the article I had a different opinion. I agree with Vanessa Baird. She gave valid points on legalizing and how it could save lives and money all around the world. The purpose of this article is to inform people like me and teach people about the possibilities and open their eyes. She made valid points such as legalization and regulation can break the hold of criminals. I am all for it. I think it will help greatly with the community, less people will be in prison or even dead. There will not be as much drug wars, and people will be much safer knowing

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;

When we revisit the assumptions that legalized marijuana will cause more drug abuse by children, teens and adults. There are no results backing this frame of thinking. The use of legalized marijuana will be consumed the same amount as tobacco and alcohol have been for years. The rules and regulation tobacco and alcohol have, set boundaries and responsibilities towards the consumer. The legalization of marijuana would be no different in how it presents their rules and regulations. Society will still consume marijuana with or without it being legalized, they have been doing so for decades. So, the question remains, “why not legalize marijuana?” The government can regulate and profit from marijuana, as it does with tobacco and alcohol. And the American people can enjoy another recreational activity that promotes

Although the legalization of marijuana solves several problems at hand, it also creates new ones that may be even more detrimental to our society such as indecent exposure of it to our youth and excessive use leading to addiction. Marijuana often has been characterized as the “gateway” drug that leads to further illicit drug use and

The second reason that the government should not legalize marijuana is that doing so will send the message that is okay to use other psychoactive drugs. Legalizing marijuana could result in advertising of this drug to adolescents. A study was conducted during 2003 showing that roughly 48 percent of twelfth graders reported using alcohol in the past thirty days and 24 percent reported smoking cigarettes in the past thirty days. Household access to illicit substances is coupled with a greater risk of marijuana use among both younger and older adolescents. This is often coupled with parental drug use which sends the message that it is okay to use psychoactive drugs (Joffe & Yancy, 2004, p. e636). The general idea is that we, as people, shouldn’t be making it easier for our children to get drugs. Thus far, it is shown that there is a struggle to educate the youth to avoid the use of psychoactive drugs. However, certain organizations, such as DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), have made solid efforts to