Drugs Essay -- essays research papers

The United States is by far the richest and most powerful country in the world. We citizens take for granted luxuries that people of other countries can only dream. Yet in our society there are serious social issues that for reasons unknown are not being addressed. One of the most important issues that typical politicians are afraid to address is that of what to do with the nation’s illegal drug problems. Although we hear terms like "The War on Drugs" and "Drug Treatment", a fresh approach to this issue is needs to come soon. The country should take a new look at drug legalization as a solution to a problem that has been long out of control. Addiction and drug abuse are such â€Å"buzzwords† these days that a clarification is needed of what is meant by these terms. Addiction has crossed the line from being defined as a physical dependency on drugs to include such classifications as religious addiction, shopping addiction, food addiction, work addiction, television addiction, and love addiction. Although a person may feel that he or she can’t live without their particular "addiction", there is no scientific proof or medical test for an addict. To keep things in the broadest perspective, addiction will be defined here as the continual repetition of a normally non-problematic behavior to self-destructive access. Since addiction is believed to be a social problem then an attempt at cutting off the source of addiction, drugs in this case, is thought to cure the problem. If tha t be the case then gambling and food abusers should be treated the same as addicts. Since drug legalization is the topic of this essay let us focus on alternatives to the "War on Drugs". One possibility for controlling drug abuse is to legalize illegal drugs. In the 1920’s alcohol was made illegal by the eighteenth amendment, better known as prohibition. From it stemmed all sort of crime, illegal alcohol sales, gang controlled territories, police shootings and above all, most people continued to drink. In contrast to today’s society where drugs are illegal there is not much difference. We have the same type of violent crime and gang control as in the twenties, and people continue to use drugs. Countries where alcohol is considered a normal part of life, such as Greece and Italy, have low occurren... ...ontrols and regulation in the hands of the government to protect the vulnerable from dangerous drug dealers. The argument that drug users are criminals does not hold up since these law-abiding citizens don’t break other laws. One more area that legalization will affect is that of race. Black people are ten times more likely to be imprisoned for drug offences than whites. Some police officers discriminate and use racial stereotyping in whom they arrest. It would force blacks into other enterprises to make legal money and change society as a whole. Opponents say lock up drug dealers, but we are running out of room in our prisons. Its time to take away drug dealers source of income and force government to address the underlying poverty in our country among minorities and the uneducated. Legalization is not a cure all but it does allow us to address many of the problems associated with drug use, and those created by drug prohibition. The time has come for an effective and realistic drug policy. Its time to take a look at legalization, end the war on drugs, and approach it from a point of what is best for society as a whole.