Drug Policy in the US Essay

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Human Ecosystem & Technological Change

Drugs should not be legalized

Drug policy in the United States has been on the forefront of polarizing issues in the political spectrum. The United States has been regulating and criminalizing the use of drugs for roughly a century and in the last few generations these efforts have culminated in what has been referred to as a "war" on drugs. This war has resulted in a large number of American citizens being incarcerated for the involvement in the drug trade or for their own personal drug use. In one report, the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that roughly fifty-five percent of federal prisoners are incarcerated due to drug-related crimes and spends about twenty-two billion dollars annually of this effort (Head, N.d.). Whether you are for, or against, drug criminalization and the war on drugs, one of the factors that makes this such a polarizing debate is the sheer amount of resources that the current system requires. This analysis will briefly introduce both sides of the argument and then conclude that, although drug legalization might have some specific benefits, the overall impact on public health and the society in general would definitely be negative overall.

Discussion

The war on drugs has become unpopular with the vast majority of American citizens over the years.

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So dislike the system because of the enormous amount of resources that it requires, while others may have a friend or relative that has been criminalized for being involved with drugs. Whatever the reasoning may be, it was estimated that over seventy-five percent of the American public view the war on drugs policy as a failure (Head, N.d.). Although many view the war on drugs as a failure, it does not necessarily follow that drug use should be legalized as an alternative.

Yet many argue exactly this case. They point to the fact that drugs have played a role in virtually every advanced civilization that has ever been in existence throughout the course of history. Given the prevalence of drugs in society, there is virtually no chance of regulating or criminalizing the drug problem to the extent that it could represent an effective cure for the situation. Therefore, some argue that instead of expending a massive amount of public resources to try to combat the problem there exists the opportunity to use the social phenomenon as a way to benefit society; both financially….....

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