I have a 5-6 page paper for Criminal Justice on the following topic:
"Billions of tax dollars have been spent on the war on drugs over the past several decades. Are we winning the war, or is time for a new strategy involving more treatment & punishment? Should the legalization of certain drugs be considered? Support your position."
My view is that this supposed 'war' is completely wasteful, although I'm not quite sure how I should go about writing this and which points to stress in the paper. I was thinking about addressing my view on how we should have the choice to do with our own bodies whatever we like. I think it's an infringement on free will by throwing someone in jail for choosing to harm himself. If however, he harms someone under the influence of a drug, than I believe he should be punished. Take alcohol as an example. The consumption of alcohol is legal, however, should your actions while intoxicated result in the death or harming of another person, then you shall be punished accordingly.
As much as I value freedom of choice, it's hard to side completely with the pro-legalization (of all drugs) argument. I do believe however there is STRONG case for supporting the legalization of marijuana. Marijuana is not in itself inherently evil; it does have it's benefits... but what about drugs that have zero benefits; those that are purely destructive to your health and psychological well-being?
Now think about this for a sec. Put all drugs off the black market (such as MJ, E, acid, coke, along with all disgustingly dangerous one's) and into legitimate businesses, than you'll have fierce competition with the forces of economics at work.... meaning CHEAP & FREELY AVAILABLE drugs. Is an environment with legally easily obtainable dangerous drugs one that is conducive to a productive society? I would venture to say no. However, if one could make the argument that this would not result in increased overall usage, than this idea would be moot. I'm not quite sure you can even prove that usage would go up or down or stay the same though. Alcohol Prohibition is a novel example and parallel, however, we're talking about two difference substances here.
There still are many more arguments supporting the legalization... here's a snippet I found on the internet:
There are currently nearly half a million drug offenders incarcerated in US jails, more than the entire EU prison population. Added to the financial consequences of current drug policy there is the enormous human cost. Police corruption, organized crime, contempt for the law and drugs made dangerous because they are illegal and thus not subject to proper controls are other consequences of current drug policies.
The last point is very interesting, as there has been big problems concerning 'dirty' drugs. When the source is unknown & shady, you can have bad contaminents that end up killing people. If the drugs were created by legitimate businesses who are subject to regulation, than this would not be problem.
Quite honestly I don't believe we've accomplished much of anything with the hundreds of billions our government has spent over the years fighting this drug war. However, is the answer to legalize all drugs? If not, than what is the answer?
...I really don't know. Please chime in with your opinion, and perhaps I may solidify my own view on the subject.
"Billions of tax dollars have been spent on the war on drugs over the past several decades. Are we winning the war, or is time for a new strategy involving more treatment & punishment? Should the legalization of certain drugs be considered? Support your position."
My view is that this supposed 'war' is completely wasteful, although I'm not quite sure how I should go about writing this and which points to stress in the paper. I was thinking about addressing my view on how we should have the choice to do with our own bodies whatever we like. I think it's an infringement on free will by throwing someone in jail for choosing to harm himself. If however, he harms someone under the influence of a drug, than I believe he should be punished. Take alcohol as an example. The consumption of alcohol is legal, however, should your actions while intoxicated result in the death or harming of another person, then you shall be punished accordingly.
As much as I value freedom of choice, it's hard to side completely with the pro-legalization (of all drugs) argument. I do believe however there is STRONG case for supporting the legalization of marijuana. Marijuana is not in itself inherently evil; it does have it's benefits... but what about drugs that have zero benefits; those that are purely destructive to your health and psychological well-being?
Now think about this for a sec. Put all drugs off the black market (such as MJ, E, acid, coke, along with all disgustingly dangerous one's) and into legitimate businesses, than you'll have fierce competition with the forces of economics at work.... meaning CHEAP & FREELY AVAILABLE drugs. Is an environment with legally easily obtainable dangerous drugs one that is conducive to a productive society? I would venture to say no. However, if one could make the argument that this would not result in increased overall usage, than this idea would be moot. I'm not quite sure you can even prove that usage would go up or down or stay the same though. Alcohol Prohibition is a novel example and parallel, however, we're talking about two difference substances here.
There still are many more arguments supporting the legalization... here's a snippet I found on the internet:
There are currently nearly half a million drug offenders incarcerated in US jails, more than the entire EU prison population. Added to the financial consequences of current drug policy there is the enormous human cost. Police corruption, organized crime, contempt for the law and drugs made dangerous because they are illegal and thus not subject to proper controls are other consequences of current drug policies.
The last point is very interesting, as there has been big problems concerning 'dirty' drugs. When the source is unknown & shady, you can have bad contaminents that end up killing people. If the drugs were created by legitimate businesses who are subject to regulation, than this would not be problem.
Quite honestly I don't believe we've accomplished much of anything with the hundreds of billions our government has spent over the years fighting this drug war. However, is the answer to legalize all drugs? If not, than what is the answer?
...I really don't know. Please chime in with your opinion, and perhaps I may solidify my own view on the subject.
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