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Losing the War on Drugs America is spending millions of dollars to run ad campaigns with teenage waifs smashing up the kitchen with frying pans, brain fried egg commercials, and other inaccurate and misleading ads put fear into our nations youth and adults alike. One such ad showed a flat line brain scan purportedly hooked up to a drug user. It was later proven that it was hooked up to nothing and most of our nations kids now know it. Seeing the Land of the Free turn into a nation that imprisons more of its citizens than any other industrialized nation on earth is neither effective or a good message to send our children. We are building 9 new prisons for every one new university ().
Which do you want built for your children? In this country, we are locked in war we simply cannot win. We strive to protect over 10, 000 miles of border, against enemies who are driven by the lure of an obscene really resulted from this war is the overcrowding of prisons, the expansion of law and distrust. If its not obvious already, I am referring to the war on drugs. As time goes on, it becomes more and more evident that the war on drugs is as useless as officials, who use the war as a reelection tool. To study this problem, I visited government web pages for statistics and facts dealing with the war, and was surprised what I found.
To most people the fiscal reasons for ending the war are the most convincing. For example, it costs over $ 30, 000 per year to house a prisoner this does not include processing and legal fees, only the actual prison costs food, water, electricity and guards (). There are over 1. 5 million non-violent drug law offenders in prison right now, and this number is increasing daily (). That means we are spending a minimum of $ 45 billion per year keeping former tax-paying citizens, most of whom had jobs and were contributing to the economy in some way, locked up with murderers and rapists. When these people get out of jail, they will have criminal records, which will make it nearly impossible to get a decent job, and a grudge against the government and society in general.
In addition, we spend $ 37 billion per year funding the police efforts and interdiction, and recent evidence suggests the CIA has been involved in drug-trafficking to fund its own private wars (). Currently there is over $ 150 billion worth of drug traffic that remains untaxed (). If you figure a tax rate of 15 %, that is a total of $ 22. 5 billion of taxes that America doesnt see. The bottom line? The US Treasury estimates America wastes a minimum of $ 104. 5 billion per year fighting a war that can not be won (), while crime rates continue to rise (because of the huge profits made possible by the risks involved in the drug trade as drugs remain illegal), and the quality of education, medical care and environmental protection falls due to lack of money in the budget. There are also moral dilemmas in declaring war on drugs and their users.
Firstly, drug use or abuse is a medical and social problem not a criminal problem, yet we think were solving the problem by throwing people in jail. The logic seems to be, maybe if we just take their life away, confiscate all of their personal property, ruin their reputation and self-respect, put them in jail with the worst elements of society murderers, thieves and rapists, where they will most likely be beaten and / or raped repeatedly they will see the error of their ways. Not a very enlightened sentiment. Also bear in mind, nicotine, caffeine and alcohol are all drugs. Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs known to man, behind substances like heroin. Cigarettes kill over 300, 000 people every year.
Alcohol kills over 120, 000 people every year (). Alcohol has been linked to men beating their wives and children. In contrast, marijuana has a recorded history that dates back over 4000 years, and has never killed anyone in the direct way alcohol does (). The DEAs own Administrative Law Judge, after reviewing the evidence, called marijuana one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man (). Its been said that the first casualty in any war is truth. That sentiment is seen nowhere as clearly as in the war on drugs.
The government and special interests have been running this war for over 50 years now. The government? spews propaganda as truth, to cover their collective backsides, which creates distrust and unrest, and breeds contempt and disrespect in our children? (). An example We have uniformed police officers coming into our classrooms telling kids that marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol and at least if not more dangerous than crack cocaine or heroin. History and scientific evidence prove that it is not. So if the officer wasnt being honest about marijuana, what else is the government lying about?
Worse yet, if marijuana is not that bad, maybe crack and heroin arent either. Their are also some logical problems with supporting such a war. This is a free country with over 10, 000 miles of border and over 247 million inhabitants (). There is simply no way you can watch all of the people all of the time if we are to continue with the freedoms we have.
A large percentage of the drugs brought into the country are brought in by people swallowing small balloons filled with pure cocaine or heroin. This is nearly impossible to prevent. There is no way you will ever be able to eradicate drugs from this country without declaring martial law, doing house-to-house searches and increasing border security dramatically. Clearly, America would not submit to draconian polices. The problem with drugs is not their effect, it is the corruption that is tied to the huge profits that doing illegal business commands. Statistics show that illegal drugs kill far less people than obesity that is, an addiction to food ().
So why doesn? t America make Twinkies illegal? Increasing penalties for drug crimes will just increase the prices and thereby the profits for people willing to take the risk. Along with these profits will come increasing war in our neighborhoods as gangs and dealers fight and kill for the enormous profits. Americans will never see any of this money because, being illegal, it is not taxed.
Supply is driven by demand. As long as there are people that want to adjust their state of mind, there will be someone to help them do it, and adjusting our state of mind is part of human nature. There are many ways to regulate use of marijuana without simply legalizing it. Our country must make a drastic change to model our laws after those of other countries who are successfully regulating the use of marijuana. Perhaps the fact that drugs are less taboo in the Netherlands lowers their allure to citizens, or maybe the fact that they are forbidden in the United States makes them more appealing to rebellious teenagers. Whatever the case, studies almost mock the strictness of the anti-drug laws of the United States, as they show them to be completely ineffective.
This summer I will have the opportunity to travel around Western Europe, and among all of the places I visit, I find Amsterdam to be one the most intriguing. Specifically, living in and watching a city function, in which drug use is considered a health problem rather than a criminal issue, will be different than anything I have ever seen. I have always been curious as to the extent of which the drug policy was abused by the people of the Netherlands, in relation to the strictly enforced drug policies of the United States. However, recent studies show that the use of both soft drugs (marijuana, hashish, and mushrooms) and hard drugs (ecstasy, cocaine, and heroine) are significantly lower in the Netherlands per percentage of the population, than in the United States (Dutch Embassy). As a result, I find myself questioning the United States of America? s?
War on Drugs? , and the money, time, and work the Criminal Justice department devotes to enforcing a system of laws that apparently are not working. I have researched the city of Amsterdam quite extensively... Among all of the things I learned about the city, I found the city? s tolerance to sexual expression and drug use remarkable. Rather than punishing citizens for their personal choice to use cannabis products, the city uses coffee shops as places to? separate marijuana smokers from the under world? (12).
These coffee shops are strictly licensed and taxed, and not only serve as a convenient and respectable place to purchase and smoke cannabis products, but also serve as a source of revenue for a booming city (). The Dutch government takes a libertarian approach to human rights, in that it believes that what citizens do with their own bodies is of no concern to the police or the control of state. In accordance, the government runs an array of programs that are considered unthinkable by the standards of American law. For example, the Dutch government exchanges used syringes for clean ones to control the spread of diseases among hard-core drug abusers. The Netherlands? s hands-on approach of helping and dealing with hard drug abusers is a refreshing and different approach at solving a seemingly uncontrollable problem, especially after watching the United States condemn and shun those citizens who have lost control of their lives.
The result of the Netherlands tolerant society is astonishing, as its citizens do not abuse their freedom. According to a survey by the Center for Drug Research at the University of Amsterdam, ? only two to three percent of Dutch over the age of twelve 12 had used marijuana over a one-month period? (Media Awareness Project). In contrast, in the United States, ? a 1996 government study concluded around five percent of the population used the drug at least once a month? (Media Awareness Project). Other studies concluded that United States high school seniors use cannabis almost six percent more than high school seniors from Amsterdam (Drug Policy and Crime Statistics).
Overall, these studies showed a significantly greater abuse of cannabis by people under the age of eighteen in the United States, than in the Netherlands (Drug Policy and Crime Statistics). In addition, not only is hard and soft drug use significantly lower in Amsterdam, crime is also considerably lower in Netherlands. Both the United States murder rate, and crime related deaths, average around eight times more than that of the Netherlands (Drug Policy and Crime Statistics). Meanwhile, the United States spends fifty-four dollars more per capita on drug related law enforcement (Drug Policy and Crime Statistics). This is alarming, as these figures depict? The War on Drugs?
as a waste of money and resources. Is there really a? War on Drugs? in America. Well, let? s compare our?
War on Drugs? to a pro typical war fought between two conflicting powers. In a war, two opposing sides have soldiers. In this case, The US has police, DEA, Customs Agents, Swat Teams, and Special Task Forces to name a few. What does the enemy have? Better yet, who is the enemy?
Well, the enemy is our own people. Eighty percent of drug arrest are for personal use. The people arrested have careers, families, and in most cases are otherwise law abiding and tax paying citizens. It is well known that wars cost money. The? War on Drugs?
is no exception, annually costing eighteen billion dollars federally and fifty billion dollars nationally (). In a war, both sides feel justified, but are willing to negotiate. In the? War on Drugs? , both sides feel justified, but one is not willing to negotiate. War always prisoners on both sides. However, in this war, only one side takes prisoners.
Seven-hundred thousand are locked up every year (). Wars are traditionally fought on battlegrounds. The? War on Drugs? is fought on our streets and effects our children. The war is not against drugs, but is against our Human Rights as defined in The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution.
The Declaration of Independence states that we have unalienable rights and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the US Constitution state that there are other rights than those listed in the Bill of Rights and that those powers that the people did not expressly give to the government still belong to the people. The people retain their inalienable rights as they have not given the government the power to act as their moral dictator. Further, the principle of inalienable rights, one of the principles upon which this nation was founded, tells us by logic that property rights are the most important rights we have. If we do not have the inalienable right to own property then we ourselves are slaves to those who do. If we do have the right to own property than we have the right to use that property as we see fit, so long as we do not harm others by such use. If we do not have the right to use our property as we see fit, then the ownership of that property is a sham; it means nothing and we are in fact slaves.
Our most basic property is ourselves, that is, our bodies and our minds. If we are not slaves to the government (or to those who control the government) then we have the inalienable right to use our bodies and our minds as we wish, even if it harms us, just so long as we do not harm others or their property. This fact, in a truly liberty-loving society, is not debatable, it is a given and cannot legitimately be taken from us, otherwise there is no true liberty, no free society, just a society of slaves or quasi-slaves. Marks, Alexandra. ? US is losing the War on Drugs. ? The Christian Science Monitor 5 Jan 200?
Going Dutch? . ? The Economist (US). 15 Jan 2000, 55 - 57. Massing, Michael. ? Beyond Legalization. ?
The Nation 20 Sept 1999: 19 - 21 Mac Coun, Robert J. , Reuter, Peter. ? Does Europe Do It Better? . ? The Nation 20 Sept 1999: 28 - 31. ? Drug Policy and Crime Statistics. ?
Dutch Embassy. 6 Aug 1998. (web). ? The Netherlands: Dutch Marijuana Use Lower Than US. ? Media Awareness Project. 16 Apr 1998. (web).
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Research essay sample on Billion Per Year War On Drugs
