The Legalization Of Drugs And Drugs In The 21st Century

The use of what are now considered illegal drugs date back as far as 300 BC in many different places of the world. Historically, it has not only been criminals that used illegal drugs. Drugs were used for many things including medicinal purposes, spiritual enlightenment, rituals, as well as for recreation. They were also used by many different cultures, age groups, and social classes. There was a time when the only thing around to alleviate physical pain either from illness, injury, or even during the process of dying were some of these drugs. There were no illegal drugs in the United States until the mid-nineteenth century. This is an essay on 12 of these illegal drugs individually as reported on in the History Channels documentary “Hooked, Illegal Drugs and How They Got That Way”.

Drugs, drugs they are everywhere. Gore Vidal, famous writer wrote the article “Drugs”. This is an article stating why Vidal believes all drugs should become legalized. The famous writer Theodore Dalrymple wrote an article called “Don’t Legalize Drugs”? This article is about why Dalrymple believes drugs should not be legalized. Katrina Heuvel, (a famous writer) wrote the article “Why it’s Always Been Time to Legalize Marijuana”. This article is about why Heuvel believes that Marijuana should have been legalized a long time ago. Drugs have been used for many years now, for medical, mental, physical, and personal issues.

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.

Drugs first surfaced in the United States in the 1800s. After the Civil War opium become very popular and was used medicinally. Following opium was cocaine which was also used as a health remedy but near the end of the 19th century opium and cocaine abuse peaked and local governments began to prohibit opium dens and importation. In 1914 the first federal drug policy, the Harrison Narcotics act, is passed and drugs are no longer seen as harmless remedies. The act aggressively regulated the manufacturing of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and morphine. During the 50’s more federal drug policies were passed and drugs began to become more criminalized. The 60’s saw a rise in counter-culture and substances such as marijuana and LSD saw widespread use. The demand for drugs skyrocketed in the 1960s. In 1971 President Nixon declared drug abuse America 's number one enemy and proclaimed that we must wave a all out offensive. After President Nixon declared the War on Drugs in 1971, the United States has spent more than a trillion dollars on this failing policy that not only has had no effect on the amount of drugs being used in the United States and has increased the number of people incarcerated on drug charges from just 50,000 to over half a million, but also has helped fuel drug cartels and foment violence and death through overdoses from uncontrolled drug potency and turf wars between street gangs.

My team and I evaluated a case where legalizing drugs would bring a greater happiness to society and that a small population of drug users would get addicted. We believe that legalizations on hard drugs would lead to bad behavior and a spike in addiction rates. Specifically, on drugs like Alcohol, Cocaine, or Heroin, etc. As what Jeremy Bentham would say, “It is the greatest good to the greatest number”. We want everyone to be happy by having a healthy society and peaceful world. My group follows Bentham’s utilitarianism theory which it benefits the society. Making drugs illegal would benefit society as hole. Legalizing drugs would terminate families, increase crime, and money, health would take a sudden decline.

The war on drugs is a movement that had started in the 1970s and is still evolving from today. Over the years, people have had mixed reactions to the campaign, ranging from full-on support to claims that it has racist and political objectives. People who are affected by drugs are the people you use them and have gotten addicted to the substances that they started using for medical or recreational purposes. The war on drugs has many challenges attached to it but there are five possible solutions that can hopefully end the war on drugs.

Drug use has surrounded us as a species since the stone age. The first references of alcohol were found within ancient Chinese civilizations, which date to roughly 9,000 years ago (McGovern, et al.). The original sources for these alcohols were rice and millet. One of the first surgical anesthetics used was opium. It is believed that some of the first Sumerian clay tablets contained basic prescriptions of opium for pain relief. Many Arabic cultures also used opium for diseases and issues relating to gastrointestinal issues and eye abnormalities (McGovern, et al.). Whether drugs were used for recreational purposes or for medicinal uses is left in the history.

The late 1900’s is where the U.S. really cracked down on the use of drugs and they started placing more laws in order. One of the biggest things in the late 1900’s were the mandatory sentences enacted for possession and use of drugs. This put minimum sentences in places for possession of drugs. This of course increased the amount of drugs arrests. At one point, over 50% of the arrests made in New York City were drug related. There were multiple documentaries made and programs set in place to prevent people, especially teens from doing

America has wasted too much time and effort fighting in the War on Drugs. It has been four decades since President Richard Nixon declared the War on Drugs on 1971 (“Brief History of the Drug War,” 2015). This war is also considered to be one of the longest in America and it is still ongoing like some foreign wars in the Middle East. The War on Drugs is not only located in America but it is also located around the globe from South America, Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. It might give you a thought that illegal drugs are corrupting the world, but more countries are gradually finding a solution and ending their War on Drugs. Portugal in example has ended their War on Drugs. How? It is because they decriminalized the use of illegal drugs rather than legalizing it (Kain. E, 2011). Keep in mind that legalizing and decriminalizing does not have the same meaning. Legalizing would mean that illegal drugs now considered legal could be obtainable in any type of markets and the public can consume it without consequence. In terms of decriminalizing, a person who posses a small amount of an illegal drug can be charged of treatment, fine or nothing at all. However, crimes are charged for people who are producing, distributing and selling. Drug abuse was cut in half in about a decade after this policy was passed in

The very first drug to appear to the US was during 1800. Law enforcement agencies have been punishing minorities that are stereotyped to the specific drug. The first drug to appear in the United States is opium. What opium is a very highly addictive drug that comes from poppy seed pods. The poppy seed

The War on Drugs, like the war on Terrorism, is a war that America may not be able to afford to win. For over forty years the United States has been fighting the War on Drugs and there is no end in sight. It has turned into a war that is about politics and economics rather than about drugs and criminals. The victims of this war are numerous; but perhaps they are not as numerous as those who benefit from the war itself.

Drugs have been around for thousands of years. "A drug is any chemical that produces a therapeutic or non-therapeutic effect in the body (Drugs and Teen Substance Abuse 2000.)" Most drugs were first used for medicinal purposes, such as marijuana. Active substances were not extracted into drugs until the 19th century. Newly discovered substances like morphine, laudanum, and cocaine were completely unregulated and prescribed freely by physicians for a wide variety of ailments. Wounded veterans returned home with their kits of morphine and hypodermic needles (History of Drug Abuse, n.d.) The use of illegal drugs is increasing, especially among young teens. The conflict theory of social problems states that, "society is marked by conflict due

America is at war with drugs. Since drug use has become an epidemic in America, the government now has an extremely strict drug policy in effect. Some Americans deem the policy to be inefficient and as a result would like to banish drug laws completely. In contrast others find the strict policy to be an effective strategy in the war against drugs. Since the war on drugs has become a huge crisis in American society, one day Americans will have to decide whether or not they support the legalization of drugs. Those who do and do not want to legalize drugs both use government spending, mandatory sentencing, and civil liberties to argue their side on either policy.

Criminalization of use of drugs has been in existence since the nineteen century. The abuse of opium and cocaine at the end of the 19th century reached epidemic proportions. Local governments began prohibiting opium dens and opium importation. Between 1915 and 1938, more than 5000 physicians were convicted and fined or jailer. (Trebach, 1982, p. 125) Common luxury commodities such as alcohol were illegal some years ago in the United States. While the motive behind the criminalization of the use of alcohol was correct, the approach seems questionable. The main motive for the ban on the use of alcohol was to avoid addiction, family neglect and ensure that parents were responsible. In this perspective, the legislators blamed alcohol for the neglect

The War on Drugs is a current conflict that has been going on for many decades. It is a movement organized by the United States Government in attempts to reduce the amount of illegal drug trafficking in the country. The War on Drugs enforced strict drug policies that are intended to reduce both the production, distribution, and consumption of illegal drugs. The term was first used by President Richard Nixon, during a press conference concerning the nationwide drug abuse issue, in which Nixon announces to the Congress that drug abuse was, “public enemy number one”. Illegal drugs are certainly dangerous; addiction and death are two but many factors as a result of drugs. However, even though the War on Drugs might sounds justifiable, in truth, it is actually making the drug issue worst in the country.