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Drug Legalization

Taxes on tobacco and alcohol attain money for the country. Taxing substances such as marijuana, heroin and cocaine would bring in much needed money to the government. This would lower the demand of money from income and property taxes. Also, drug legalization would reduce the amount of money needed to spend on law enforcement. The U.S. government spent $1.5 billion on drug enforcement last year ("Drug Enforcement Statistics"). This money could be spent on other important government programs. In addition to lowering enforcement costs, legalizing drugs would reduce the number of inmates kept in prisons for drug-related crimes. This would lower prison costs as well as improve the problem of prison overcrowding. These factors would save money and revive the delicate state of the present economy.
             Besides helping the economy, legalization would reduce crime and addiction. Crime is arguably the most dangerous association with drugs. More than half of the crime in America is drug related ("Drug Enforcement Statistics"). The black market for drugs is the battleground. There, violence results as dealers and addicts clash. Robbery and burglary occur as drug users try to obtain money for their habit. Legalization would reduce or even eliminate the black market, eliminating the violence along with it. Addiction is the other major problem with illegal drugs. A program that is in trial in other countries is government based drug distribution. This program involves a government-controlled distribution of drugs such as heroin. Addicted patients can receive a prescription and legally purchase the drugs they need to slowly break themselves from their addiction (Terkel 34). Such a program in America seems like a good alternative to the violence that occurs when desperate addicts try to get a hold of their illegal drug.
             Many believe that legalization of drugs would only create more drug abuse and open the door for drug use in young people.


Essays Related to Drug Legalization

1. Marijuana Legalization: Is it Right for America?

... 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. Now, advocates for the legalization of marijuana have arrived at a solution: Make the drug legal and that will decrease the prison population. Those that are incarcerated for marijuana-related crimes will no longer be imprisoned; therefore, the ... may actually experience an increase in marijuana related cases, not a decrease. Comparing the prohibition of marijuana today to the prohibition of alcohol during the 1920's, propo...

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

2. Marijuana Legalization

... country since the 1976 implementation, and there is no major crime problem in the country as a result. However, the Netherlands has seen a dramatic 250% rise in adolescent drug use and a rise in registered drug addicts ("Drug Legalization" 295). These findings have led the government to tone down the number of marijuana selling coffee shops and recommend raising the legal age of marijuana usage to ... eighteen. Would such a policy work in the United States? It is hard to say. Recently the rate of adolescent drug use has decreased here by 66% ("Drug Legalization" 295), and the government...

  • Word Count: 1914
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Has Bibliography

3. First Steps Toward Marijuana Legalization

... in 1937. From 1937 to the early 1970s the federal government not only classified Marijuana as a drug with no medicinal purposes, they also began criminalizing the possession of the drug. Since the mid 1970s, the push has been toward the re-legalization of Marijuana for recreational and medical purposes. This essay will attempt to prove the gradual change in ... to allow the government to remain "neutral" or continue to advocate against the legalization of Marijuana for recreational use, the federal government may want to propose their own legislation to reclassify Marijuana as a Schedule...

  • Word Count: 2339
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Graduate

4. Legalization Of Marijuana

... of the increased emphasis on rehabilitation and the decrease of drug pushers. Such a dramatic decrease in drug dealers has not only resulted in crime reduction in England but there was also a decrease of drug use. It is true, legalization will not eliminate the major cause of violent crime; however, most argumentation which says that drug legalization will not decrease crime deals with the idea that most ... violent crime occurs as a result of alcohol use (Light). Since this is true, and legalization would not effect crime that is alcohol related but ... it will decrease violent crime ...

  • Word Count: 798
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

5. Legalization of Drugs

... myth that illicit drugs are no worse than legal drugs like alcohol and tobacco is not true. By decriminalizing the use of drugs crime rates would increase. Furthermore, drug legalization is not as cost-effective as Szasz alleges. Finally by looking at other countries that have tried to stop the prohibition of drugs we can see that it ultimately fails. " ... , rather than working and taking care of their responsibilities." But, if generation after generation engaged in the act of drug use, it would be an acceptable practice. "The war on addiction is not only astronomically expensive; it i...

  • Word Count: 1760
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Legalization Of Marijuana

... marijuana's uses be fully known. Crime and punishment due to the illegal status of marijuana push proponents to fight for marijuana legalization. President Jimmy Carter said, "Penalties against drug use should not be more damaging to an individual than use of the drug itself. Nowhere is this more clear than in the laws against possession of marijuana in private for personal use."" (NORML ... alone. In 1989, a Republican county executive of Mercer County, N.J., estimated that it would costs approximately one billion dollars to build the jail space required to house all the drug users in ...

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

7. Drug Legalization

... criminal acts and police and court systems could focus on worse crimes, people that sell drugs could have better careers, and it will stop drug-trafficking. There is on going debate between prohibitionists and libertarians over the legalization of drugs. Most people say that it would be a lot easier to just legalize drugs. It is a person's right to use drugs. ... . Therefore, some people depend on drugs. Many people argue the side for individual rights. Two economists, Milton Friedman and William Buckley favor the legalization of drugs on these grounds. Both of these people are strongly ...

  • Word Count: 1656
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

8. The Drug War: Marijuana and Money

... and legalizing it would be very detrimental to our society. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is against the legalization of drugs and is our nation's primary enforcer of our current drug laws. In my research of the other side of the issue I came across a publication by from the DEA called "Speaking Out Against Drug Legalization.", which was published in November 2002. The introduction brings up ... the issue that the US drug policy is being challenged by people wanting to legalize certain drugs and in their words, which is what my essay proposed, ". . distinctions between hard ... wil...

  • Word Count: 2971
  • Approx Pages: 12
  • Has Bibliography

9. Legalization Of Marijuana

... and the wasted use of money and resources with no results. It is now time to look at alternative methods to solving the nation's drug problem. I will be looking at one of these methods that deal with the legalization of marijuana. There is a problem in the United States which deals with the use of drugs, our solutions to the problem and our ... crime deals with the idea that most violent crime occurs as a result of alcohol use.(Light) Since this is true, legalization would not affect crime that is alcohol related but it will decrease violent crime that is linked to drug dealing. The dru...

  • Word Count: 658
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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