Theodore Dalrymple's Don T Legalize Drugs

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.

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).”

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.

What would be your solution to end drug addiction? In the essay, Drugs: Case for Legalizing Marijuana”, Gore Vidal argues his solution, to legalize all drugs along with marijuana, to end drug addiction. Marijuana along with other drugs should not be legalized because they will cause more harm than good, begin leading to drug after drug, and would forever affect the world.

Marijuana is a drug that is an ongoing issue in the United States for many years debating about whether it should be legal, so in 2010 the state of California proposed the “Tax, Regulate, and Control Cannabis Act” for voters to vote on which would make marijuana illegal. Charles Stimson, a former assistant U.S. Attorney specializing in crime, had strong opinions about what he thought about the issue and was paid to write an article by the Heritage Foundation where he could voice his opinion about legalized marijuana. In his article “Legalizing Marijuana: Why Citizens Should Just Say No,” Charles Stimson tries to persuade his audience, voters of California, that they should vote against legalized marijuana. He tries to persuade his audience

As a major policy issue in the United States, the War on Drugs has been one of the most monumental failures on modern record. At a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars, thousands of lives lost and many thousands of others ruined by untreated addiction or incarceration, America's policy orientation concerning drug laws is due for reconsideration. Indeed, the very philosophical orientation of the War on Drugs and of the current drug policy in the United States has been one of prosecution and imprisonment rather than one of decriminalization, treatment and rehabilitation. As our medical and scientific communities characterize addiction as a disease, the United States government continues to characterize this disease as a crime. And in doing so, it has created an unnecessary criminal class in the United States. The research, supplemental political cartoons and proposed research will set out to prove that stiffer drug laws will only have the impact of criminalizing countless drug addicts who might otherwise benefit substantially from rehabilitation and other treatment-based strategies. With a specific focus on the prohibition of marijuana even for medical use, and using the Toulmin model for putting forth and completing the argument, the research will set out to demonstrate the irrational

     One of Bennett's strongest arguments challenges those who claim that legalization is a simple way to eliminate the drug problem. He rightly criticizes them for failing to describe the kind of world they are proposing, for failing to answer questions like these:      Would crack be legal? How about PCP? Or smokable

Baird seems well informed and thoroughly concerned with the matter at hand. She brings on many compelling arguments from many different angles. “This is the so-called balloon effect, where action taken in one place simply pushes the illegal drug problem into another,” (Baird 14). Baird shows her concern for not just one side of issue but the whole issue at large. Baird even goes on to stress her concern over all the deaths and violence due to manufacturing of the drugs, an issue that is not huge in the United States. Walter sticks closer to the same issues throughout his piece. “The charge that "nothing works" in the fight against illegal drugs has led some people to grasp at an apparent solution: legalize drugs,” (Walter) sums up his attitude from beginning to end in his article with this simple

Starting in 1914 the U.S introduced the first probation acts that prohibited the consumption of Opiates and Cocaine with the Harrison Narcotics act of 1914 Later this act was amended to include marijuana. This Act was the first use of federal criminal law in the United Sates to attempt to deal with the nonmedical use of drugs (wisegeek). The war of drugs started primarily in the 1971 when Nixon declared the war on drugs. He dramatically increased the size and presence of federal drug control agencies (Drug Policy). With the first major organized drug imports from Columbia from the Black Tuna Gang based in Miami, Florida Columbia was quickly growing into a drug superpower able to feed America’s growing addictions.

Because the authors of the first article bombard the reader with word usage designed as a scare tactic, it ultimately has little effect. This rhetoric could end up backfiring on those who use the article in a drug awareness effort due to blatant lies and half-truths. Not to mention, the authors of the first article are researchers, therefore, the only responsibility is gathering the information without taking a direct stance on the issue. This limits the credibility of the authors, who work for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The author of the second article uses data from the same source as the previous, without the feeling of information shoved down the readers throat. The article has a more realistic approach because every reader can identify with the content. Although there may be some exaggerated points, the article speaks to what people know, therefore, more creditable. To the author’s credit, a recipient of nine teaching awards for drugs and human behavior, leading researcher in psychology and addictions, the Associate Professor of Clinical Science and Director of

Marijuana is probably the most recreational and illegal drug in the world. The most significant ingredient is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinal, it is commonly referred to it abbreviated form THC. This drug should not be legalized because it would lead to hard core drugs, there would be an increase in obesity, and it affects the heart, lungs and the brain. There are legal, social, and medical reasons that marijuana should not be decriminalized.

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

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

A number of movements to legalize marijuana have been gaining attention lately. Currently there are 14 states where marijuana is legal for medical use (medicalmarijuana). 41% of U.S. citizens believe marijuana should be legalized (drugpolicy) but others are still concerned about health damage. American society has lost the war against marijuana, and that's okay. We should stop wasting time and money trying to reverse history and instead legalize both medical and recreational use of this mild narcotic widely seen as no more harmful than alcohol.

In the ACLU’s article “Against Drug Prohibition,” they mention that the way we currently handle drugs and drug prohibition is not the most effective way to deal with our drug problem. The ACLU states, “a strategy of prevention, research, education and social programs designed to address problems such as permanent poverty, long term unemployment, and deteriorating living conditions in our inner cities” (Par. 7). Although at first glance, the ACLU’s suggestions do not appear to be related to our drug crisis at all, it is indeed relevant to the drug situation to a certain extent. The mentioning of problems such as permanent poverty, unemployment, and less than satisfactory living conditions makes it appear the ACLU assumes that most drug users