Essay/Term paper: Drug legalization

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Alcohol and Drugs

Drug Legalization


Strong drug enforcement in the United States is correlated with the
reduction in crime , drug use, and drug addiction growth rates. The
impact on tougher drug sanctions has been overshadowed by a myth that U.S. drug
enforcement has become too lenient.
This myth has been promoted by the multi-million dollar pro-drug
legalization lobby, civil libertarians, and misguided academic researchers to
the public with limited review and challenge.
Attacks on drug enforcement efforts often hold law enforcement to
impossible and changing performance standards. Law enforcement , treatment ,
and prevention complement each other. None of the credit for the twelve year
decline in drug use among our children is attributed to law enforcement, yet
recent increase in drug use are cited as evidence of law enforcement's failure.
Without question, drug abuse in our society has been a major cause of
crime and social disruption. The drug problem has been so enormous that some in
our society , misguided by frustration , are listening to the arguments to
legalize or decriminalize drugs. The solution to the drug problem is not to
repeal the drug laws. The solution requires commitment to a balanced effort on
drug education , prevention , treatment, and law enforcement. Softening our
drug laws would be a major mistake. Research and data clearly shows the
problem is not drug prohibition , but drug use. When drugs are cheap and
easily accessible , more people will use them. It is a frightening scenario
that envisions more of our citizens, both juveniles and adults, using mind -
altering substances that not only affect their own behavior and health, but also
endanger innocent people.
Experience has already shown a link between illegal drug use and crime;
that even the so called " victimless " use of marijuana can cause a
disproportionate amount of serious accidents; and other countries , such as
South Korea and Taiwan , learned that tolerating drug abuse only allowed it
to grow out of hand. Those who do not learn from experience are bound to repeat
it. We cannot afford to do this with the drug problem. There are the lives of
innocent people at stake in our generation and the next generation .
Let's be realistic, legalizing marijuana is a terrible idea which
would have serious negative side effects. Those in favor of legalization
are making false arguments that may sound good , but are often simplistic and
short sighted. Legalization may lessen the violence surrounding drug dealing ,
but the real problem is violence resulting from drug use, and this must be
addressed with strong law enforcement , substance abuse treatment, prevention
and a commitment to change.
Anyone who uses marijuana and thinks that "pot" is not harmful is
fooling themselves. The active ingredient THC , is addictive , and users can
get just as addicted as they can with nicotine ( cigarettes and chewing
tobacco) or alcohol or cocaine.
Any tax revenue collected resulting from legalization would be minimal
compared to the social cost of addiction. Legalization would create even more
clients for an already overburdened treatment system, and at a much higher cost.
Treatment is only a part of the price that we pay, we will also be paying for
the marijuana users increased health problems, reduced productivity , injuries
from auto accidents , and crime. The overwhelming media impact on drug
legalization is scary when you think of the impact on young people. Marijuana is
the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. The good news is that
marijuana use is down slightly according to some recent surveys. We must send
messages to society especially the teen-age members that it is not all right to
get " high", getting high is not a message that stresses healthy relaxation and
coping with problems in a matured manner.
What if a tiny but stubborn group of people continued to promote
legalization of what is now illegal drugs? We cannot afford to permit the few
misguided people, some possibly that have ulterior motives, to succeed. There is
a major need for factual information to counter the Drug Policy Foundation and
others who continue to push for a nation of zombies and destroy America.
The nations most precious resource is it's children , the future
generation. We must leave them with a society that will give them the best
chances possible for a useful , healthy , and safe life that is free from crime
and drugs. What if drugs were legalized what would our communities be like? We
would have people walking around high half of the time, people would lose their
jobs because they could not perform, the economy would diminish , there would be
an overwhelming number of people on welfare, and who is going to pay for these
people, I don't want to , the only solution it not to legalize drugs it would
not and could not help society so why legalize. The only people who would gain
from drug legalization would be drug producers, drug sellers, criminals, addicts,
and money launderers. Who will lose, our children , families, neighborhoods,
communities, all of us. We all need to make a stand before we end up losing
even more of our children to drugs and violence.
Those who look at drug legalization as a good idea are looking at it
from a financial stand point. Legalization is a flawed concept. The notion that
drug legalization will take the underworld element out of the drug trade and
result in lower prices is ridiculous. In fact drug abuse would only become more
wide spread and run more rampant. Models for this are alcohol and tobacco, both
represent serious health hazards, why now add cocaine, heroin, marijuana, LSD
and other illicit drugs, to the list of major health hazard substances that
people can legally consume. Pro-legalization advocates attempt to appeal to
emotion, not reason. Legalization or decriminalization is not drug reform, it
is drug retardation, taking us back to the laxidasical drug policies of the
1970's. The greatest danger of legalization is to the youth of the country. The
youth of our country are the most difficult to diagnose and to treat.
Drugs lead to violence and crime that has been established ,
legalization will not stop this no matter what anybody argues drugs are
dangerous, to those who use them as well as those who do not but are around
users. Legalization will not prevent the chemicals and physiological responses
of the body some of which take people totally out of reality and also sometimes
kill. The issue on crime is split people say the crime would go down because
the price of drugs would go down , maybe this is true but it is very unlikely.
As people become addicted they need more and more, what happens when the money
runs out? People are going to do whatever it takes to obtain their "fix" which
includes stealing , robbing , and burglarization possibly even murder, anything
to get their drugs.
My feeling on this subject is that of total disagreement with the
legalization of drugs. People only want the legalization for the profit end of
the industry , which is the only appealing side of the drug trade, but it is not
appealing enough to sacrifice my children's future for money. The drug war can
be won with the right policies, but legalization is not the answer. We need to
save this country, it is the best country in the world, so why destroy it.