What has been America's longest and most unsuccessful war? If you answered Vietnam or World War II you would be incorrect. America has been waging a war since 1972 that is still going on as we speak, the "War on Drugs". It was this year that Nixon appointed a National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse and despite its recommendations to decriminalize marijuana Nixon still declared, in his own words, a "War on Drugs." This war brought upon harsher penalties, set up multiple anti-drug commissions, and eventually set strict mandatory sentences for drug offenses among numerous other efforts to stop drug traffic and drug use within our boarders. Since then the cost of this war has risen every year, and last year cost us close to $9 billion. All most all of this money comes from our, the tax payers, pocket, most of which I am proposing could be better spent. On top of this money is the high cost to keep the massive influx of prisoners incarcerated as a result of these harsh penalties. This effort has also made it illegal to cultivate hemp, which has many practical uses. Although some very good things have happened as a result of this war many bad things such increases in crime and corruption and people's lives, in my opinion, being wrongfully ruined. This essay is not pro-marijuana or pro-drug, rather I am proposing a different approach to this war which would save our country billions of dollars that could be better spent improving any number of things and would even open new jobs, be profitable, among numerous other advantages.
My approach to the drug problem takes a similar approach to that of the Netherlands, which separates drugs into hard and soft drugs. Soft-drugs would include the currently legal alcohol and nicotine and would also add marijuana in this category of potentially harmful, but legal drugs. Currently marijuana is classified in the hardest of all the drug categories as a schedule I drug, falling in the same category as heroin.
America's longest war in history, the Drug War, has been going on since 1919. ... The government's regulation of drugs goes against human rights, costs citizens a substantial amount of money, and has little to no positive influence on public safety or drug use. ... (Drug War Facts). ... (Drug War Facts). ... The War on Drugs needs to come to an end....
In 1968, when American soldiers came home from the Vietnam War addicted to heroin, President Richard Nixon initiated the War on Drugs. ... Because the Cartel leaders had money, they also began to acquire power. ... During the 1980s, it appeared that Central America was awash in drugs, and drug money. ... Because it is the most widely used illicit drug, marijuana is predictably the first illicit drug most people encounter. Not surprisingly, most users of other illicit drugs have used marijuana first. ...
Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs And The Politics of Failure Bertram, Blachman, Sharpe, & Andreas. Drug War Politics: The Price of Denial Reinarman & Levine. ... While Carter wasn't very active in the drug war, small amounts of drugs were decriminalized nationwide. ... Every American suffers from the war on drugs. ... Our culture's attitude toward materialism, money, and power as a representation for success, drives us to turn to drugs. ...
In the article, "The War on Drugs Is Lost" he says, "...the strategy for fighting it didn't work, and as a result the war lasted too long and cost too many lives. The same is true of the war on drugs. ... He says, "For drug money, I stole a lot. ... Another teen, Prudencia, describes how she got money for drugs, "I stole a lot, I"d steal cars, steal stuff from stores, break into houses, whatever I had to do to get money for drugs" (Cheney, 60). ... He reports: "Once the drug war is considered in rational terms, the solution becomes obvious: Declare peace. ...
This money would be going to the government as opposed to private drug dealers working in the black market. ... The drug war on marijuana has cost the government excessive amounts of money that could be used towards something much more important. ... Most people view the war on drugs to be the war against the use and manufacturing of drugs. By legalizing marijuana much of the money and drugs circulating in the market would be lost due to the product being legal for purchase. ... So, as it turns out, by legalizing a drug that is part of the war on drugs, the government would see many positiv...
However, President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs in 1973 and over the next 20 years, each succeeding president continued to escalate the drug war. ... A persistent myth about marijuana is that it is a gateway drug, leading to the use of harder drugs. ... In 1993 a study by the Rand corporation compared drug use in states that have decriminalized marijuana and those that have not. It found that in states where marijuana was more available, hard drug abuse as measured by emergency room episodes decreased. ... This war on drugs is wasting the money, as well as the lives of American people...
rijuana purchased annually were taxed, it would be around 250 million dollars in tax money that the government isn't receiving due to the fact that marijuana is illegal. Beside the fact that the government is losing out on a lot of tax money, the government spends an incredible amount to keep marijuana illegal. ... Many people argue that marijuana leads to "harder" drugs such as cocaine, heroin, acid ect. because marijuana is said to be a "gateway" drug. ... Marijuana supporters argue that if marijuana were legalized, then the drug dealers would be virtually eliminated, and almost all of ...
(Drug war facts) I don't know, but that's an awful lot of national and international organizations that support the medical values of marijuana in one way or another. ... This money could be used, to give an example, to fund drug prevention programs in our schools or community centers. ... Since cannabis arrests constitute 44 percent of all drug apprehensions, the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) estimates that the government's war on pot smokers costs taxpayers $9.2 billion annually. ... All this money would be made available to fund other programs, should marijuana be legali...
Ending the war on drugs is seemingly impossible as Richard L. ... According to the book, America's Longest War, there would be savings of about 200 billion dollars or more per year with the legalization of drugs. ... The money spent focuses on drugs in general; however, ma! rijuana is one of the leading drugs causing this money usage. ... This ongoing war also leads to place great emphasis on arresting people for marijuana. ...