Should Drugs Be Made Legal?
For several decades drugs have been one of the major problems of
society. There have been escalating costs spent on the war against drugs
and countless dollars spent on rehabilitation, but the problem still
exists. Not only has the drug problem increased but drug related problems
are on the rise. Drug abuse is a killer in our country. Some are born
addicts(crack babies), while others become users. The result of drug
abuse is thousands of addicts in denial. The good news is the United States
had 25,618 total arrests and 81,762 drug seizures due to drugs in 1989
alone, but the bad news is the numbers of prisoners have increased by 70
percent which will cost about $30 million dollars. Despite common wisdom,
the U.S isn't experiencing a drug related crime wave. Government surveys
show between 1980 - 1987 burglary rates fell 27 percent, robbery 21
percent and murders 13 percent, but with new drugs on the market these
numbers are up. One contraversial solution is the proposal of legalizing
drugs. Although people feel that legalizing drugs would lessen crime,
drugs should remain illegal in the U.S because there would be an increase
of drug abuse and a rapid increase of diseases such as AIDS.
Many believe that legalizing drugs would lessen crime. They point out
that the legalization of drugs would deter future criminal acts. They also
emphasize and contrast Prohibition. When the public realized that
Prohibition could not be enforced the law was repealed. From this, one
may infer the same of legalizing drugs. Legalizing alcohol didn't increase
alcoholism, so why would drugs increase drug abuse?
However, drugs should not be legalized because there would be an
increase in drug abuse due to its availability. Once legalized, drugs
would become cheaper and more accessible to people who previously had not
tried drugs, because of the high price or the legal risk. Drug abuse would
skyrocket! Addicts who tend to stop, not by choice, but because the drugs
aren't accessible would now feed the addiction if drugs were made legal.
These drug addicts would not be forced to kick the habit due to the
availability of the drug they would partake eagerly. The temptation to use
drugs would increase when advertisements for cocaine, heroin and marijuana
are displayed on television. Instead of money used by employed addicts, you
will see welfare funds used to purchase drugs. If welfare funds were being
misused, this would cause a major problem in the economy. Drugs must not
be legalized. It puts our country at a terrible risk.
Health officials have shown that the legalization of drugs would cause
a rapid increase of diseases such as AIDS. AIDS poses a growing threat to
addicts, and thus to society as a whole. The virus that causes AIDS is
growing, due to drug addicts who share needles and syringes. The sharing
of such needles by intravenous drug users helps increase the spread of
AIDS. "Infection among IV drug abusers is continuing to occur at a very
steady rate," warn Richard E. Chaisson director of the AIDS service at John
Hopkins University. In the U.S gay men still make up the primary risk
group, although 750,000 to 1 million drug addicts are believed to be at
risk to AIDS nationally. The problem here is the sharing of needles, which
is causing the spread of AIDS. IV drug abusers are killing our nation at
an amazingly fast speed. AIDS which surfaced in the 80's is now on the
rise and even more deadly to IV drug users. The sharing of needles must be
stopped. Drugs should not be legalized.
Although people feel that legalizing drugs would lessen crime, drugs
should remain illegal in the U.S because there would be an increase of drug
abuse and a rapid increase of diseases such as AIDS. The United States can
not afford this problem. It has become a world power by strengthening its
people not by killing them. Drug abuse has gotten worse, with its effects
on crack babies, drug addicts, and the I.V user. There must be education
for the survival of this nation, not legalization.