War on Drugs
Would You Apply This Strategy Across the Board or Employ Different Stances Depending On the Substance?
The same approach will be applied to every drug for them to become decriminalized.
Defend your Position
Drug legalization is a very complex issue. Most Americans are not in favor of it, but there is still a powerful and very audacious lobby in the United States that is of the opinion that the proper course to take is legalization (Hartnett, 2005). Proponents of this drug legalization are of the opinion that current drug policies have proved harmful to individuals, families, and the society at large. They oppose current drug laws and policies for different reasons.
To some people, these laws are impingement of individual liberties. Some see these laws as a huge waste of government resources and cite the opinion that legalizing drugs could yield millions in revenues from taxes, while putting drug dealers out of business at the same time, and ensuring quality controls in drug production. Some believe that legalization would minimize crime generally.
Some also argue that the laws are a kind of institutionalized racism created to keep the minorities as a permanent disenfranchised underclass, holding them behind bars, making them addicted to drugs, or completely dependent on government aids. Others accept what they believe to be humanitarian approach, with the argument that some substances should be legalized for medical uses. Some have decided to identify the issue as harm reduction rather than drug legalization in a clear attempt to make it appear like a lighter issue and make it appear more humanitarian.
Still, to some, the ban on drugs is nothing, but a very flawed and unfeasible strategy that has aggravated crime and hostility and has contributed to a deep sense of despair and hopelessness for several Americans. It is also noteworthy to mention that these proponents of legalization include the supporters from across the entire political sphere, and libertarians on the far right to progressives on the far left. Charles Rangel, the Liberal Democratic Congressman, has stubbornly opposed the legalization of drugs, while William F. Buckley, the columnist and conservative icon, has long campaigned for the legalization of drugs. According to Congressman Rangel, legalization is a very dangerous idea that should be buried once and for all (Rangel, 1998).
According to the advocates of legalization, once drugs are legalized, that will become a financial windfall for the American economy. They are of the belief that all the money wasted on and all related issues would then be channeled to areas like health care, education, infrastructure and social services. As earlier mentioned, some are of the belief that it is possible to tax drugs eventually, thereby creating the much-needed revenue. One central legalization tenet is that it would remove underground drug markets, since drugs would be openly available (Mineta, 2010).
Discussion about The Victims of the Approach You Would Select
Our drug policies consider both public health and public safety drug use aspects through prolonged support for drug prevention and treatment. Our extensive experience with two legal substances, tobacco and alcohol, demonstrates that legalization enhances society’s reception, ease of use, use, and associated costs.
The numbers of deaths caused annually by tobacco and alcohol run into hundreds of thousands, and are much more than the annual deaths all illegal drugs can cause. This is because the use of tobacco and alcohol are widespread. About 51.6% and 28.4% of the population aged 12 and above use alcohol and tobacco, respectively; while the use of the most popular illegal drug, marijuana, hovers around 6%. Today, marijuana enjoys less acceptance and usage among young adults than tobacco and alcohol-in a large way due to its illegality (Monitoring the Future, 2009).
There seems to be as much opposition to legalization as their pro-legalization lobbies. They are of the view that legalizing drugs will have very harmful effects on public health, the economy, standards of living, the American culture, and the entire society at large.
Opponents of legalization are of the belief that legalizing drugs will overwhelm our already overburdened health care industry. This will appear as direct outcomes of drug use (more overdosing, more HIV / AIDS patients and more diseases emanating from drug addiction) and indirect outcomes of drug uses (more injuries as a result of drug-related violence, workplace incidents and accidents). They were also of the opinion that legalization would create more emergency room visits, ambulance calls, and fire and police responses.
In 2002, the costs of direct health care attributed to cases of illegal drug abuse were $52 billion (U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, 2005). Additionally, legalization opponents do not agree with the legalization advocates when it comes to whether drug use will be increased by legalization. These legalization opponents hold strong to the belief that there would be a dramatic increase in drugs once they are legalized and easily obtainable (Hartnett, 2005).
How You Would Advocate for That Population
The best way to lend voice to the clamor for drugs to be legalized is to join an already existing activist group. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) is among such groups you can join. Five police officers came together to form this group in 2002, in Medford, Mass. After spending their lives doing police work, they came to the conclusion that the war on drugs was doing more harm than the intended good. Today, there are over 150,000 LEAP members in about 127 countries in the world. Retired prosecutors, judges, police, and probation officers who had a firsthand experience about the war on drugs came to the conclusion that the downsides are far greater than the potential advantages. The group does not favor drug use, but advocates for a new system of legalization and regulation it believes will bring an end to all drug-related violence, minimize crime rates, safeguard the children, minimize addiction, and put tax payers’ money into better use (Green, 2015).
One other effective way to end the war on drugs is by telling everyone like representatives, family members, and friends about the things that inspire your position on drugs, which are science, health, compassion, and human rights. Every community around the world feels the impact of the War on Drugs. Television programs, newspapers and radio shows always run stories that relate to the ban on drug and . LEAP Rapid Response Team members get email alerts from LEAP to inform them about any breaking news. These team members then submit their comments about these popular stories to the blog, website, or newspaper that published the trending story. Rapid Response team leaves their comments in these popular forums to spread the word about LEAP and their rational, simple approach to (LEAP, 2016).
References
Green, E. (2015, September 24). How an became one of Oregon’s fiercest drug-legalization advocates. Retrieved from http://news.streetroots.org/2015/09/24/how-ex-prosecutor-became-one-oregons-fiercest-drug-legalization-advocates
Hartnett, E. (2005). Drug Legalization: Why It Wouldn’t Work in the United States. The Police Chief, 75(3).
LEAP. (2016, January 25). Retrieved from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition: http://www.leap.cc/
Mineta, D. (2010). Decriminalization would increase the use and the economic and social costs of drugs. Americas Quarterly.
Monitoring the Future. (2009). Retrieved from University of Michigan: http://monitoringthefuture.org/pubs/monographs/overview2009.pdf
Rangel, C. B. (1998). Legalizing Drugs: A ‘Dangerous Idea. In J. A. Schaler (Ed.), Drugs: Should We Legalize, Decriminalize, or Deregulate? (p. 74). New York: Prometheus.
U.S. Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration. (2005). The ‘Secondhand Smoke’ Effects of Drugs on Society. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
