Unfortunately, drugs are still being circulated, and drug addicts run rampant. ... Perhaps the spending should shift from law enforcement and penalization to prevention, education, and treatment. ... To ensure maximum compliance, the act was aggressively enforced. ... After the creation of the Drug Enforcement Agency, "Operation Intercept" was initiated; which obligated Mexico to monitor its marijuana farmers. ... Clinton also increased the spending for prevention and rehabilitation programs; however a majority of policy spending was used for eradication and law enforcement. ...

• Word Count: 1432
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

However, the federal government and its drug enforcement agencies claim there is no distinction in federal law. ... Classified as a Schedule I drug, cannabis belongs to the most restrictive categories for psychoactive drugs in the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) five categories. Drugs in this category meet three criteria: the drug has high potential for abuse; the drug has not therapeutic value; the drug is not safe for medicinal use. ... Today's marijuana is far stronger than it was two or three decades ago; therefore, a wide margin of safety would be enforced when its used ...

• Word Count: 1098
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

History of Drug Abuse Humans have used drugs of one sort or another for thousands of years. ... Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the Drug Enforcement Administration) began a campaign to portray marijuana as a powerful, addicting substance that would lead users into narcotics addiction. ... The act dealt with prevention and treatment of drug abuse as well as control of drug traffic. ... Prescription drugs are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration. ... See also drug addiction and drug abuse . ...

• Word Count: 5106
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

According to the Auditor General's report, this translates to $500 million for annual enforcement of drug laws, another $500 million for legal fees, and another conservative estimate of $50,000 per year for each incarcerated offender. ... The LEAP program is Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Founded on March 16, 2002, LEAP is a non-profit organization made up of current and former members of the law enforcement and criminal justice communities who are speaking out about the failures of our existing drug policies. Leap has a mission to create "a system of legalization and regulation tha...

• Word Count: 2108
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The population of drug users includes a wide variety of different peoples as well, one can see the use of drugs spans across a spectrum of people of various backgrounds. Other aspects relating to the frequency of drug use by individuals can also demonstrate how diverse the population of drug users is, as well as it brings up the issue of differentiating between using, abusing, and being dependent on drugs. ... As the human race has developed not only have laws changed regarding drugs, but the drugs themselves have evolved. ... As time has progressed, one can see how technological improvemen...

• Word Count: 559
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

That is the amount of money spent on the War on Drugs each year-$1,271 per second spent on law enforcement, incarceration, and interdiction. ... Enforcement of drug laws causes law enforcement officers to be more confrontational, preventing public trust. ... McNamara is a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), a group started by retired law enforcement officials who have fought in the war on drugs and believe that war cannot be won (Martin 2009). ... Drug enforcement laws do not prevent drug trafficking nor the violence associated with the illegal trade. ... If this were a l...

• Word Count: 1215
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Anti-marijuana legalization groups such as the Drug Enforcement Agency and city police departments argue that the legalization of medical marijuana can lead to the use of other drugs and increased drug trafficking. ... Many agencies that are anti-marijuana such as the Drug Enforcement Agency and police departments argue that marijuana should not be legalized. ... The Drug Enforcement Agency also believes that if marijuana is legalized as a medicine, then in turn, it will lead to the abuse of other drugs, an increase in drug trafficking, and crime will increase due to a higher rate of marijuana...

• Word Count: 865
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The legal acceptance of alcohol, however, does not exclude it from the category of a "drug," even in the eyes of the Food and Drug Administration. ... Drug smugglers tend to carry and sell hard drugs in extremely potent form (i.e. cocaine) for the same reason. ... Moreover, marijuana has been proven to be less toxic and less expensive than conventional medication and in many cases more effective than commercially available drugs ("Against Drug Prohibition" 13). ... NORML first raised this issue in 1972 in an administrative petition asking that marijuana be moved from schedule I to schedule ...

• Word Count: 1707
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Many have smoked marijuana to experience the drug's psychedelic effects, while others use the drug to treat various illnesses and pain. Within the past century, however, the drug's medicinal value has come under much scrutiny. ... The legalization of this drug for medical purposes can only lead to future drug addiction, negative side effects, and susceptibility to further damage through recreational use. ... "Numerous large-scale cost-benefit analyses reveal that every dollar spent on drug treatment saves between $2 and $7 on law enforcement, corrections, health care, lost productivi...

• Word Count: 1152
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In the book, The Case for Legalizing Drugs, it states, "Legalizing drugs would promote public health, not harm it. ... The drug enforcement authorities would reduce their budget requests, or most likely, focus more intensely on harder drugs and violent crimes. ... Federal, state and local governments spend about 100 billion dollars a year on law enforcement and criminal justice programs. There is about 35 billion dollars, which is directly related to drug law enforcement and probably another 15 billion related to crimes committed to obtain drug money. In one year, about 50 billion dollars ...

• Word Count: 1572
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Lobbying groups show substantial evidence, that marijuana is an effective prescribed drug. ... City council women Christine Kehoe said she wanted the city of San Diego "to go on the record we support the medical use marijuana; marijuana can be a drug of necessity in the treatment of AIDS, glaucoma, cancer and multiple sclerosis. '' Many agencies, which are anti marijuana such as Drug Enforcement Agency and police departments, argue marijuana should not be legalized. ... The main reason why the Drug Enforcement Agency does not want marijuana to be legal is because there is no har...

• Word Count: 821
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The legalization of marijuana would greatly reduce drug violence in cities and reduce spending by law enforcement, as well as helping the American economy. ... Law enforcement costs would be greatly reduced. Marijuana is currently listed under the DEA's drug scheduling list as a schedule 1 drug.... People could now safely pick up their treatment with worrying about being arrested by law enforcement, dealing with drug dealers, or receiving unsafe marijuana that may contain fungus or other foreign toxins. ... Law enforcement spending could be greatly reduced because the number of prisoners ...

• Word Count: 1578
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Would your answer still be "yes" if you were told that sometimes the only drug that can help their pain is marijuana. ... It is not in the interest of law enforcement to drive patients to the illegal market. ... Patients who meet all of these requirements must also have proof of their identity and show it to any law enforcement officer who questions the patient regarding his/her use of medical marijuana. ... Some of these concerns include the fact that marijuana use can lead younger people to experiment with harder drugs. ... Can society ever look and think of marijuana as anything other tha...

• Word Count: 1318
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Through the legalization of marijuana, the Canadian society can benefit through positive effects, including; a control of the marijuana substance; a decrease of usage of both legal and illegal drugs; and an increase in tax revenues, along with a decrease in government spending on drug enforcement and crime. ... By allowing drug users a legal way of stimulating and achieving a similar high, many drug addicts would decrease or all together, stop the practice of using harder drugs, such as cocaine or heroin. ... However, through the legalization of "soft drugs" like marijuana in The Netherlands...

• Word Count: 1122
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Secondly, marijuana is a gateway drug. Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States and tends to be the first illegal drug teens use. ... While most marijuana users do not go on to use more dangerous drugs, most heavy drug users started with marijuana. ... Law enforcement officials described marijuana as a "gateway" drug that leads to harder drug use, since methamphetamine users almost always report they used marijuana before they used ice... Millions of dollars in federal drug enforcement money began to flow into Hawaii, but by than, the war on marijuana spread to Ka...

• Word Count: 1430
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

While Canada is contemplating decriminalizing marijuana the United States of America is cracking down hard with President Bush's war on drugs. ... Fifty- six people in the United States have been indicted for possession of drug paraphernalia. ... The Canadian government is wasting millions of dollars on drug busts that do not really make a difference in attitudes towards drugs, and people are still going to use marijuana if it is illegal or not. ... Also many people suggest that the police spend way too much time and resources on enforcing drug laws, and statistics show that forty- three ...

• Word Count: 967
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

I'm not sure that we will see the same thing here given what we have said with regard to our enforcement priorities.... The statement has been made for several years, by groups ranging from law enforcement to political, that our local, state, and federal prisons are running out of room because of the number of people incarcerated for drug-related offenses. ... A number of advocates for legalization have suggested that the workload on local law enforcement would ease if marijuana were legal. ... The advocates claim that the workload on local law enforcement will be lessened if marijuana w...

• Word Count: 4020
• Approx Pages: 16
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Out of that number 85% consider marijuana a "safe" drug. ... Decriminalization would involve the removal of criminal penalties for possession of marijuana for personal use and would save incredible amounts in enforcement costs (Marijuana Prohibition Facts). ... Other countries that have already decriminalized marijuana have continued doing studies on their population's usage of marijuana and other drugs. ... Marijuana continues to be the third most popular recreational drug in the United States despite 60 years of criminal prohibition. ... Even the U.S government's studies concluded...

• Word Count: 1417
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The federal government, seeing the increase of marijuana use, passed new drug laws. ... President Jimmy Carter said, "Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than use of the drug itself. ... Proponents say marijuana should be legal because it will reduce the great amount of money spent on enforcement. ... Every year in the United States, ten billion dollars are spent on enforcing drug laws alone. ... They state that in many cases, drug users have quit because of trouble with the law. ...

• Word Count: 1460
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Eventually companies will be licensed to sell marijuana cigarettes or more commonly know as "joints" and the immense revenue made from taxation of marijuana and the saved budget once spent on the prohibition of Marijuana could be spent on anti drug programs targeting much more dangerous drugs like cocaine and morphine. ... Well on a dictionary outlook it means " A habit-forming substance whose use may lead to the abuse of drugs that are more addictive or more dangerous"; or more simply put a substance that opens the doors to more harmful drugs. ... Just because over the years it has become...

• Word Count: 704
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In the year 1937, the United States government made the drug marijuana illegal. ... This was a time where many mind altering drugs where experimented with and widely used. ... Ever since marijuana has become illegal, enforcing it has been an issue. ... The amount of money the federal Drug Enforcement Agency spends each year is $1.3 billion a year. ... First the government should set an age limit on the purchasing of the drug. ...

• Word Count: 1605
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Others, make the claim that the legalization of marijuana would actually bring an increase in the use of other drugs, an increase in violent crime, and create a virtual nightmare for law enforcement. ... "The current legal status of marijuana was established in 1970 with the passage of the Controlled Substances Act, which divided drugs into five schedules and placed marijuana in Schedule I, the category for drugs with high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use."... This money could be used, to give an example, to fund drug prevention programs in our schools or community centers. .....

• Word Count: 2154
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• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Besides this law the drug has been commonly used among US citizens. Washington DC, in recent years, has declared war on illegal drugs, vowing to end the illegal drug traffic within and across the US borders and to stop the consumption of these illegal drugs, of which marijuana is the largest contributor and most widely consumed. ... They consider marijuana to be a "gateway" drug. ... This legalization strategy would allow the United States to reduce government expenditures on enforcing drug laws and would allow the United States to enjoy new tax revenue from legal drug production and sales....

• Word Count: 1220
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

When compared to currently available legal substances and drugs such as cigarettes and alcohol, marijuana seems less of a threat then pictured. ... Currently laws enforcing marijuana prohibition further overcrowd our jails and divert scarce public safety resources away from issues and problems that really need attention. Stiffer sentencing on drug offenders has overcrowded jails in the United States so much that violent criminals including murderers have been given earlier releases to make room for guys who've been handed mandatory life terms without the possibility of parole for their "t...

• Word Count: 888
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• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Young, the Drug Enforcement Administration's chief administrative law judge, concluded not only that marijuana's medical utility had been adequately demonstrated, but also that marijuana had been shown to be "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man" ("Medical Marijuana Briefing-). ... Also, many organizations have formed to eliminate drug use across the country. ... They think that once cannabis is legal, everyone will get it for illegal reasons and misuse the drug. ... In some cases, marijuana has appeared to be better than the commercially available drugs i...

• Word Count: 1174
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate