Unit 8 Legalizing Drugs

As director of the National Drug Control Policy, William J. Bennett shares his stance on the drug war in “Drug Policy and the Intellectuals”. He addresses the arguments that American’s have proposed in regard to the legalization of drugs. Bennett goes on to say that the justification behind legalizing drugs lacks the seriousness that a topic like this should have. In addition, the results would likely be disastrous. Rather than “taking the profit out of the drug business”, Bennett’ alternative is to make the usage of drugs a less appealing option.

In a 1970 article about drugs, narcotics, and the government, “Drugs: Case for Legalizing Marijuana”, Gore Vidal explores how the illegalization of marijuana has created the opposite effect of what the legislation has intended to do. Vidal’s explanation and reasoning behind this idea is not entirely associated with drug users and the population in general, but also has a strong link to monetary gains in government bureaus and large-scale mafias. These financial motive claims are supported by logical appeal and evidence.1 To begin, Vidal points out that, “both the Bureau of Narcotics and the Mafia want strong laws against the sale and use of drugs because if drugs are sold at cost there would be no money in it for anyone” (par. 10). This statement

Therefore, this paper will focus on the frequent use by the teenage population, its risks, the law, and the debate on the legalization of

Nowadays it seems like legal drugs are more expensive than illegal ones. This dilemma occurs because the pharmaceutical industry affects the economy significantly. Although the United States is a mixed market economy, there are instances where the economy seems like a free market economy. A free market economy allows companies to determine the prices of goods free from government intervention. The pharmaceutical industry, despite several regulations set by the food and drug administration, is a free market economy.

Look at the world and think about what has changed over the past centuries and see if we can determine why it has now become what it is today. Our history has plenty of technologies and other products that have risen in the past five or six centuries, but now have changed a bit that might not be good. Almost everyone has some type of habit in their lives that they deal with and some are worst than others, but a habit can lead many down the wrong path if the habit is used extensively. The book that I read was Forces of Habit and it deals with the history of alcohol to drugs that we know of today.

The objective of this paper is to compare both U.S drug laws and Canada’s drug laws to identify how they differ and present my insight on this matter. How the United States constructs, its drug laws are without a doubt contrastive to Canada. It begins with lawmakers distinguishing the difference between illegal drugs and legal drugs. For the most part, the legality of drugs highly depends on how it’s consumed. Meaning whether or not its doctor prescribed or under physician care,

Overall, Gore Vidal’s argument of legalizing drugs is very compelling. The style of writing is unique and keeps the reader interested. Vidal takes a popular argument (in 2016) and provides a sound argument in support of

The legalization of drugs has been at the center of interminable debate. Drugs have widely been perceived as a dominant threat to the moral fabric of society. Drug use has been attributed as the source responsible for a myriad of key issues. For instance, it is believed that drugs have exacerbated the already weak status of mental health in the United States in which some individuals suffering from mental illness administer illicit substances such as heroin or cocaine in an attempt to self-medicate. Moreover, drugs are blamed for turning auspicious members of the community into worthless degenerates.

In his article, “Toward a Policy on Drugs,” Elliot Currie discusses “the magnitude and severity of our drug crisis” (para. 21), and how “no other country has anything resembling the American drug problem” (para. 21). The best way to describe America’s drug problem is that it is a hole continuously digs itself deeper. America’s drug issues were likely comparable to other country’s at one point in time, but today it can be blamed on the “street cultures” (para. 21) that continue to use and spread the use of illegal drugs. These street cultures transcend the common stereotype of drug users, such as low income communities in cities or welfare recipients, and can be found in every economic class and location. They are groups of people who have

Today many countries try to regulate the numbers of drugs users as many as they can by using the scary promotions and commercials to attract the attention from people, albeit ineffective. Rather than using the outmoded methods, legitimacy should be announced for all drugs in order that the regulation will process more ease for the government. In this procedure, the government can legislate the limitations for drugs consumption and people will be able to understand drug disadvantages profoundly. Therefore, allowing drugs as ordinary substances will abate the drug consumption. The aforementioned issue, in brief, the drugs is a too danger to leave it as it is so it should be legalized.

The continuous use of narcotics results in addiction, and financial struggles due to the costly upkeep. “Financial problems are one of the major side effects of drug and substance abuse” (Buaggett, 2015). Addicts cannot adequately take an active role in the economic activities, as the use of drugs inhibits the abilities of the users to earn a daily living. Due to the instability of finances, this would result in selling personal belongings to continue funding the substance of choice, and depending on the addicts living situation, this could lead to losing their house or being removed from their current housing. While being under the influence, an addicts voice of reason is jeopardized, resulting in criminal activities which raise the chances of being apprehended by the law enforcers, as well as, heavy fines are imposed.

If there was an open market for drugs and Americans’ were educated on the effects drugs can have on their bodies, the monopoly for drugs would rapidly decrease. Drugs are outlawed in America yet prohibition has never been successful in America. Anytime the government has tried to stop the distribution of a substance people have always jumped at the chance to make

Would the decriminalisation and / Legalisation of controlled substances improve or hinder the economic, health and social circumstances of drugs users, their families, communities and society? This essay will briefly outline the current policies on drugs in Ireland and will examine the policies and substance misuse from a European and international perspective; then it will discuss how decriminalisation of drugs and substances can improve or hinder the economic, health and social circumstances of drug users, their families, communities and society in general. Examples of controlled substances in Ireland include cocaine, heroin, methadone, cannabis (full list of controlled substances found in the schedule Misuse of Drugs Act 1977).

In this instance the net worth of drug abuse would be ‘-195’ or ‘195 dolors’. In pursuit of “the greatest good for the greatest number”, the snowball effects must be considered. For example, the poor hygiene associated with intravenous drugs increases the spread of blood contagions, causing illnesses such as HIV in thousands of people thereby endangering their lives. In doing this, healthcare systems are monopolised, diverting taxpayer money away from treating unpreventable diseases. Internationally, 10% of prisoners are held on drug related felonies, uprooting the economy.

Marijuana, for instance, is a drug that is most widely used in the United States (Thio, 2013, pg. 301). Society is starting to look at this drug as a useful tool in medication as well as a helpful tool in recreational use. The overall use of marijuana is seen to many in society as deviant, regardless