Legalization of Drugs Research Paper
Research Paper on Legalization of Drugs has more benefits than harm:
Introduction
A drug is any substance that alters the normal biological functions of the body. Production of Illegal drugs is normally prohibited and their use is strictly controlled because they can lead to addiction or habituation. Drugs such as heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana can be extremely dangerous if wrongly used and beneficial if put into correct use. The issue of drug use and misuse has posed a serious real problem. Prohibition of drug use has been at the center of discussion in various countries across the globe. Since this drugs are now on the hands of the nastiest criminals all over the world, control and regulations are necessary. The only remedy to this menace is full legalization accompanied by appropriate controls. I fully support the motion that drugs should be legalized since prohibition will deny the authorities the chance to educate the children on proper use of the drugs (Gargaro).
The ongoing debate on legalization of drugs is asking the government whether it will help in solving drug problems appropriately. If I were asked a similar question, I would say yes. This is because the current prohibitions on drugs are just mopping up the problem and not providing real solutions. Legalization and taxations are the only ways through which real solutions can be achieved. Just think of this situation; at least every year in Britain, criminals control billions of pounds in the drug industry instead of the government and traders through the black market. This kind of business has encouraged global terrorism, illegal munitions trade, control on prostitution, and sexual slavery. Almost half of all the criminal offenses committed in the country are drug related. Couldn’t reducing these crimes free our legal services and prisons at least for a moment? Unnecessary prohibitions on drug use has led our children into committing drug related crimes, and this has denied them the much needed advice on drugs, besides undermining our respect for the law. The government should therefore take the obvious step, put all the drugs state control, and impose legislation and taxes on their sale. This will relieve our country the burden of staggering under unnecessary prohibitions (Gray).
Prohibitions on drug and substance abuse such as alcohol have been in place since the 1920s in the US and other developed countries. It has made people believe that taking it is a criminal activity, which can land someone in jail. The ill effects of the drugs and alcohol are so adverse such that no sane person could like to be associated with them by using the drug. So many people are convinced that these effects are harmful, and have successfully restrained from the habit. It is good to establish such a law in the society, and most government has effectively controlled drug abuse since time immemorial through prohibitions. For example, the alcohol prohibition act of the 1920s proved effective because cases of alcohol consumption greatly dropped even though it did not succeed in eliminating the alcohol. The rate of crime and drunkenness dropped and taxes were reduced by putting the offenders in jail. Minor crimes such as vagrancy, public indecency, and disorderliness have been successfully eliminated use to these prohibitions. This is enough prove that this method really works (C.S).
Prohibition of drug use in countries such as the United States, Britain, and other parts of the larger Europe has proved to be futile and the war on drugs in these societies has caused multiple harms to the users. Since prohibition is aimed at increasing price and penalty of a serious drug habit, it makes it unaffordable for most individuals. Penalizing the use of the drugs drives the law-abiding individuals into the criminal market economy. Criminalizing users and prohibitions exposes them to health risks that could have otherwise been avoided. In addition, it doesn’t make sense to criminalize some drugs while providing a free market to others. This distracts attention from legal to those that are harmful but legal, such as alcohol. The prohibition on drugs has never and will never work. This attempt of trying to deny people their right of doing what they want with their bodies is doomed to fail as long as the person using the drug does not harm his or her neighbor. The current method that has long been used to fight the drug war is very expensive and has not yielded any meaningful results. It is a simplistic solution that has all along failed to recognize the complexity surrounding the problem. It has also been oblivious of the dangers a drug has on the individual. Full scale legalization of the drug act will enable the state to educate the public on risks associated with drug use, and how such problems can be taken care of. While there is a possibility that the act of legalization of drugs will attract more users, their lives will be much healthier and safer. Let us not get speculative here, since we are aware of people who used to take drugs but still leading healthy lives. For instance Barrack Obama to have taken Cocaine (Hope).
The common myth surrounding the whole idea of legalizing drugs is that it will make people law abiding citizens, and enable the government to tax the industry. However, I am not sure whether the cartels will be naïve enough to allow the government takes over such a lucrative business. If the cigarette market has been able to evade the government’s taxing system, what about this industry that has an elaborate network of producers and illegal suppliers in the market? Legalizing and taxing drugs as some argue is not a solution to the drug menace in the world today. The reason is that the black market will be given an easy path to groove is because the act will be made socially acceptable. It will be much easier to take these substances to the market under the legalization act as opposed to government regulated outlets. This would also increase funding for the crime because the drugs will be easily accessed by users who can in turn lure non-users since there are no laws prohibiting the act. What are the results? The drugs will circulate in the society, destroy more lives, tear families, and cause people to be violent. Even if the current war on drugs is not effective, legalizing drugs is much worse and should not be passed into law (James).
Conclusion
The war on drug has brought more harm than good, and the policy on drug use has failed to protect the people it is intended to. In Mexico alone, the war on drug policy has claimed close to 14,000 lives since 2006. This figure does not however include those people who have been traumatized, maimed or displaced. Prohibitions on drug use have resulted in wars between the authority and the users in most cities across the world, and this battle seems not to be coming to an end any time soon. The war on drug should therefore, be stopped and pave way for the government to impose control measures and legalize the whole business. I support this motion because I believe that the outcomes of such a move would be beneficial, both for the state itself and in the fight against global drugs crime.
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