The Role Of Drug Abuse In The United States
How does one end the consistent drug problem going on in the United States? It is simple, take the emphasis off the war on drugs and start placing those resources elsewhere. Looking at the approach the United States has implemented, as it has been the most ineffective route taken. With the legalization of marijuana, America can take a major leap towards a progressive future.
Following the start to the war on drugs with its roots beginning with the Nixon presidency, the effects can be seen as detrimental to the prosperity of the nation. He is accredited with being one of the first presidents to place a substantial amount of pressure on the drug industry, citing, “America’s number one public enemy in the United States is drug abuse. In order …show more content…
The estimated total of funding from the government has come close to almost $1.4 trillion dollars (Editorial; Nixon's drug war still hurts the poor). For more than forty years, America has funded efforts to suppress the importation of illegal drugs and has had little to no success. Looking at the outcomes of this war, the results are hundreds of thousands innocents dead in other foreign countries. As in Mexico alone, the total rate of homicides was estimated to 11 per 100,000 individuals in 2005; by 2010, it was 18.5 per 100,000 individuals (Enamorado). The effects of the domestic war on drugs is spilling into other countries as a power struggle for who will gain control of the large US market. If marijuana was legal, this effect would no longer be relevant. Individuals would be less likely to seek out and buy the drug for recreational use through illegal …show more content…
America has seen the losing side of a war the federal government can neither maintain nor continue to afford. Individuals are suffering at the hands of legislation for small infractions as the taxpayers are the ones who have to front the cost of this unnecessary witch hunt. Individuals would no longer have to buy cannabis illegally. As result the United States could stop wasting time and money, and increase its own revenue. While Colorado serves as a prime example as what the whole country could be benefit from if there was a more progressive standpoint on this issue. With the possibility of legalization occurring, it could be more effective in becoming the catalyst to getting rid of the black market drug trade rather than previous attempts in this country’s
Following the start to the war on drugs with its roots beginning with the Nixon presidency, the effects can be seen as detrimental to the prosperity of the nation. He is accredited with being one of the first presidents to place a substantial amount of pressure on the drug industry, citing, “America’s number one public enemy in the United States is drug abuse. In order …show more content…
The estimated total of funding from the government has come close to almost $1.4 trillion dollars (Editorial; Nixon's drug war still hurts the poor). For more than forty years, America has funded efforts to suppress the importation of illegal drugs and has had little to no success. Looking at the outcomes of this war, the results are hundreds of thousands innocents dead in other foreign countries. As in Mexico alone, the total rate of homicides was estimated to 11 per 100,000 individuals in 2005; by 2010, it was 18.5 per 100,000 individuals (Enamorado). The effects of the domestic war on drugs is spilling into other countries as a power struggle for who will gain control of the large US market. If marijuana was legal, this effect would no longer be relevant. Individuals would be less likely to seek out and buy the drug for recreational use through illegal …show more content…
America has seen the losing side of a war the federal government can neither maintain nor continue to afford. Individuals are suffering at the hands of legislation for small infractions as the taxpayers are the ones who have to front the cost of this unnecessary witch hunt. Individuals would no longer have to buy cannabis illegally. As result the United States could stop wasting time and money, and increase its own revenue. While Colorado serves as a prime example as what the whole country could be benefit from if there was a more progressive standpoint on this issue. With the possibility of legalization occurring, it could be more effective in becoming the catalyst to getting rid of the black market drug trade rather than previous attempts in this country’s