Legalization Of Recreational Drugs Essay

The legalization of the drug marijuana is a hot topic nowadays. Many people want this substance to be legalized and regularly available like cigarettes. But what some people do not know are the serious health risks involved when using marijuana. There is a lot more to marijuana than just smoking it.

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 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.

For many years, a real push has been looming on the idea of legalizing now illegal drugs. This has become a hot debate throughout nations all over the world, from all walks of life. The dispute over the idea of decriminalizing illegal drugs is and will continue on as an ongoing conflict. In 2001, Drug decriminalization in all drugs, including cocaine and heroin, became a nationwide law in Portugal (Greenwald). Ethan Nadelman, essayist of “Think again: Drugs,” states his side of the story on the continuing criminalization of hard drugs, in which he stand to oppose. Whether it is for the good of human rights or not, decriminalizing drugs may be a good head start for a new beginning.

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.

Today, nearly 40 years later, there is plenty of scientific support and evidence to trigger a solid effort in changing policies and public opinion in reference to addiction. Evidently there is a distinction between drug crimes due to personal consumption and drug crimes due to distribution intent.

There are many differing viewpoints in the United States when dealing with drug policy. Within the political arena, drug policy is a platform that many politicians base their entire campaigns upon, thus showing its importance to our society in general. Some of these modes within which drug policy is studied are in terms of harm reduction, and supply reduction. When studying the harmful effects of drugs, we must first to attempt to determine if drug abuse harms on an individual level of if it is a major cause of many societal problems that we face today. In drawing a preliminary conclusion to this question we are then able to outline the avenues of approach in dealing

The United States government has been involved in the war against drugs for many decades since President Eisenhower established a committee to eradicate narcotic addiction in 1954. The term "War on Drug" became prominent in 1973 when President Nixon established the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as an all-out initiative to attack the drug problem across the globe. Since then, there have been various campaigns to fight this national and global phenomenon including Drug Abuse Resistance Education in 1983 and the Partnership for a Drug-Free

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.

I believe as a nation we have done well when it comes to learning from our mistakes; however, the debate over the issue of drugs in our country has truly caused turmoil throughout the nation. It is an issue that does not choose sides; rather it strikes every race, religion, and economic class across the country. We all have our beliefs about the topic of drugs in our country and how it impacts us as a whole. United States citizens believe that drugs are one of the major problems that this country is dealing with today. The belief that drugs are one of the leading contributors to elevated crime rates is what causes citizens in our country to view all drugs in a negative light. It is hard to disagree with people when you know their claims hold

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;

One the many controversies in our country today, regards the prohibition of illegal narcotics. Deemed unhealthy, hazardous, and even fatal by the authorities that be; the U.S. government has declared to wage a “war on drugs.” It has been roughly fifteen years since this initiative has begun, and each year the government shuffles more money into the unjust cause of drug prohibition. Even after all of this, the problem of drugs that the government sees still exists. The prohibition of drugs is a constitutional anomaly. There are many aspects and sides to look at the issue from, but the glaring inefficiency current laws exude is that any human should have the right to ingest anything he or she desires. The antagonist on the other end

Marijuana is derived from the dried flower clusters of a stain of hemp pant called cannabis sativa. So, people ingest to induce euphoria, also to treat the certain medical problems. Use of marijuana is termed is prohibited under federal law, but certain jurisdictions allow regulated use for medical purposes. The legalization of marijuana is considered as a controversial matter prevailing throughout the world. Before, in most ancient cultures did not grow the plant to get high, but as an herbal remedy. The hemp plants of marijuana have low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, the substance accountable for hallucinatory effect. In addition, there is movement to legalize marijuana by supporters for years and able to create momentum across the country. Therefore, Alaska and Oregon has been legally approved to use for any use, however in many states marijuana is allowed for medical use. As the legalization of marijuana can cause crimes, injury, and increase addicted number. However, I strongly believe that marijuana should be legalized as the majority of the public supports its legalization and it brings billions of dollars in tax revenue and has medicinal values. As, people have been using the marijuana in any manner, and scientifically there is no proven harm to body by it.

Marijuana, pot, weed, dope, cannabis, the reefer … the most commonly exploited illegal drug in the United States. Why is it illegal? To answer that question go back to the 1900’s. During this time period, a bloody revolution was sweeping across Mexico. The Mexican revolution caused the amount of immigrants coming to the United States jumped from twenty thousand per year to nearly one hundred thousand per year (Steinhauer). They brought their culture and, at that time, their traditional means of becoming intoxicated included smoking marijuana. Then, police in Texas claimed that Mexicans who were on marijuana would acquire superhuman strength and a lust for blood (Little). Since a false lust for blood and superhuman strenght is why marijuana was banned, the question is still apparent. Why is marijuana still banned? Marijuana is less deadly than other more widely attainable drugs. Marijuana even has medicinal benefits and that fact is not something new, it was known at the time of the bannings. What is more important to the United States government is the fact they can achieve monetary gain. Because of this, the United States should legalize marijuana.

Laws that prohibit the possession and use of street drugs are important as their aim is to protect the user, those around them, and society in general from undue harm. There has been a great push during the last 10 years to legalize marijuana and decriminalize other drugs such as cocaine and heroin on the basis that the recreational user, and even the hard-core addict, may not be causing significant harm to anyone, beyond their own personal health. In this sense, drug use is viewed as a personal choice and drug laws trample on personal freedoms without sufficient reason. Additionally, minorities are found to be arrested and convicted of drug crimes at disproportionate rates when compared to the demographics of those who use illegal drugs, which some see these type of laws as a tool of legal oppression, instead of a valid punitive function. Still, there remains sufficient reasons to maintain laws against the possession and use of controlled substances, such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin; though there is a compelling argument for the lessening of the amount punishment of the majority of users that are caught with small amounts of street drugs. This paper seeks to put forward valid reasons for the continued prohibition of drugs, while also making a case for the softening of incarceration policies.