The war on drugs in America is an outdated idea that is wasting billions of taxpayer dollars every year. According to the world drug clock America has spent over $12,500,000,000 so far this year combating drugs and it is estimated that the total will be nineteen billion for all of 2008. There have been nearly 460,000 arrests made so far this year and estimates exceed 1.8 million this year. A drug related arrest is made every seventeen seconds in this country. These statistics are all courtesy of Drug Sense drug war clock at http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm.
Despite all the money spent and the arrests that are made enough drugs remain on the street for the United States to be the largest illegal drug abusing country in the world. It is easier for under aged children to get illegal drugs than cigarettes or alcohol. The war on drugs is an incredible failure and waste of taxpayer resources. Violent crimes in this country almost always involve drugs either fighting over territory or crimes committed for money to buy drugs. This has caused a major population explosion within the prison system making America the most incarcerated county in the world as well.
Despite the addictive nature of cigarettes and despite a very aggressive advertising campaign tobacco use is on the decline in this country. The decrease in use is due to a combination of factors. An aggressive health campaign that effectively concentrates on the dangers associated with smoking that targets young children before they start. The government’s ban on tobacco companies producing adds that appeal to children. Tax increases that make cigarettes cost prohibitive. Crack downs on stores that sell to cigarettes to minors that include stiffer fines and penalties. And most importantly parents are more involved with their children and talk to them more openly about the dangers of smoking.
If these measures work for cigarettes why wouldn‘t they work for drugs as well? The United States is a capitalist nation driven by supply and demand and making drugs illegal goes against everything that capitalism stands for. People have the right to decide what is best for them. The market has a right to provide what consumers are willing to purchase. If people want to spend their money on drugs why shouldn’t they be allowed to? Instead of wasting money on trying to prevent the unstoppable flow of drugs into this country and creating the largest prison population in the world the government should be taking advantage of the tax opportunity. At the same time drugs could be made safer by having strict manufacturing laws concerning the purity and quality of the drugs.
During prohibition thousands of people went blind or died due to substandard hooch produced illegally by criminals whose only interest is money. Once booze was legal again and made safely with recognizable standards those deaths disappeared. That doesn’t mean that people don’t die from drinking it just means what they are drinking is safe.
The drug laws are outdated and ineffective and should be repealed. No government should be allowed to control what an individual chooses to put into his or her body. We are not owned by anyone and as adults the dangers of substance abuse are common knowledge. Whether drugs are legal or not we are all faced with those choices already due to the ease of obtaining drugs on our streets. The focus on drugs needs to move from prosecution and punishment to prevention and treatment programs funded by tax dollars generated through the legal sale of all drugs.
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