Should We Legalize
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Should America Legalize The Federal Government, while trying to protect us from our human nature, developed harsh anti-drug policies with the hope of eradicating drugs. These policies seemed simple enough: imposition of penalties on those who use substances illegally, iterception of drugs coming from other countries while ending all drug cultivation in the States, and prevention of foreign governments from growing these substances. The idea of the Drug Prohibition surely made sense: lower demand of drugs by law enforcement, and reduce supply through domestic and international means. Unfortunately, the Drug Prohibition led to heavy costs, both financially and ...
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crimes and punishment. The estimated cost to the United States for the "War on Drugs" is $200 billion a year or an outstanding $770 per person per year, and that figure does not include the money spent by state and local government in this "war" (Evans and Berent, eds. xvii). The second cost of this "war" is opportunity costs. America has two resources which are limited prison cells and law enforcement. When more drug crimes take up law enforcement's time and when more drug criminals take up cells, less ability to fight other crime exists. In 1994, law enforcement arrested some 750,000 people on drug charges, and of those 750,000, 600,000 were charged merely with possession. Sixty percent of the prison population are drug offenders (Wink). The police must work to find these 35 million "criminals," thereby exhausting their resources. In major urban centers, the number of drug offenses brought to trial are outstanding. In Washington in 1994, 52% of all indictments were drug related ...
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with other countries, and harmful to users and society alike. All this while trying to battle an enemy who is not as dangerous as it is currently believed by most of the American public. The unpleasantries of the history of Drug Prohibition also show us how the public has been mislead through Prohibition. Many of these disagreeable acts were not circumstances of Drug Prohibition, rather goals of it, whether it was understood or not. The United States' image in Latin America has been precarious nearly from its birth. The image of the American intent on dominating the New World plays in the minds of our neighbors. Recently, though, the situation is interesting since the countries ...
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Should We Legalize. (2004, November 23). Retrieved November 22, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Should-We-Legalize/17952
"Should We Legalize." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 23 Nov. 2004. Web. 22 Nov. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Should-We-Legalize/17952>
"Should We Legalize." Essayworld.com. November 23, 2004. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Should-We-Legalize/17952.
"Should We Legalize." Essayworld.com. November 23, 2004. Accessed November 22, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Should-We-Legalize/17952.
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