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November 12, 2020
Drug legalization in the U.S.
Drug legalization in the U.S. has been a major topic of discussion for a long time, sparking various debates around the country as some purport that drugs should be decriminalized and made legal, while others argue that drugs should remain illegal. Despite these arguments, certain states in the U.S., such as Colorado and Washington, have legalized marijuana. This move sparked further debates as other states looked to legalize marijuana as well. This is an argumentative research paper regarding the legalization of drugs and why the U.S. should go ahead and decriminalize drugs, just as the other states have done with marijuana. Legalization of narcotics especially marijuana should happen because legalizing these drugs would save the government approximately $41.3 billion annually on expenditures related to the enforcement of prohibition, it would reduce state and federal deficits by eliminating cost on prohibition enforcement, and marijuana is already believed to be the number one cash crop in the U.S. exceeding the combined values of wheat and corn.
Understanding the key terms used in this discussion is paramount. Legalization of drugs or their decriminalization refers to the act of removing any criminal penalty on people for possession or use of certain medications (Hendrickson and Dean 1550). This act alters the existing terms of criminalization, such that fines are now replacing jail time for these acts. Legalization removes any criminal penalties, and this makes these drugs taxable and ensures that they are controlled by the three levels of government, local, state and federal governments. One of the strongest arguments for the legalization of drugs is the economic benefits that will be realized. The legalization of drugs would mean that the tax revenue for the government will considerably increase. As provided in the thesis statement, drug legalization would result in tax revenue of about $41.3 billion annually. This figure is considered if alcohol and tobacco are assumed to be taxed separately (Ghosh). With this legalization, the government will be able to direct the tax revenue to better incentives rather than fighting against drugs.
Another economic benefit of legalizing drugs is the subsequent reduction in the number of inmates in government prisons. The government spends thousands of dollars to ensure the federal prisons are run as expected. In certain situations, these prisons are severely underfunded and result in various challenges for the inmates and the prison wardens. According to Defeis (105), the average cost of housing and feeding one inmate in a federal prison amounts to $58,000 every year. This amount comes down to $30,000 for every inmate in state prison. With the legalization of drugs, the number of inmates in these prisons will significantly reduce, perhaps to manageable numbers, while reducing the amount of expenditure incurred in federal and state prisons. Besides, with legalization, individuals will be fined in case they break the conditions provided for legalized drugs. This means the fines will contribute to the amount of revenue earned by the government. These conditions may include not exceeding a certain amount of drugs or using the drugs in public when it is only legalized for private use.
Will points out that a $200 drug deal bust can eventually cost the country $100,000 or even more when a three-year sentence is imposed on the offender. A further evaluation of the benefits of legalizing drugs can be achieved by assessing how states that have legalized drugs such as marijuana has benefited. Colorado is one of the states that has legalized the use of marijuana. Within the two years that Colorado had legalized the use of marijuana, data shows that the government has experienced a 41% decrease in drug arrests. Way adds that in less than three months, Colorado had earned more than $40 million worth of revenue from marijuana taxes. This information clearly shows that states that have legalized drugs in terms of increased revenue, and also a reduction in the number of drug arrests.
Another reason for drug legalization is the argument that drug prohibition is counterproductive. The federal government is only entitled to the powers granted to it by the constitution. The U.S. is marked by individual liberty and limited government. This implies that although a problem may be identified, it doesn’t mean the government needs to take it up and solve it. Additionally, a situation that occurs in more than one state doesn’t make it viable for being a subject for federal policy. The prohibition of drugs including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and other drugs, has been the federal government’s long experiment that has failed for several years now. This unsuccessful experiment has resulted in unprecedented crime corruption, making everything worse, and failing to stop the use of drugs or its access to children. Even today, Congress still confronts the failed prohibition policy as the drug problem in the USUS gets worse every passing day.
Additionally, the government has incurred tremendous federal expenditure in drug control programs. Also, drug enforcement has increased the amount of national spending, with the amount getting to $22 billion during the Reagan administration and even higher at $45 billion in the Bush years (Miron, 410). Despite these worrying numbers, the federal government continues to incur high costs in its expenditure on drug enforcement and drug control programs. The effects of these mind-boggling amounts are felt all over the country and in different states. The government would have channelled these amounts to other projects that would benefit the people. The prohibition policy has been around for so long, yet it has been unsuccessful since all the 1.5 million drug arrests, and incarcerations haven’t had a substantial impact on drug use, drug trade or the crimes linked to drugs and drug use.
Failure to legalize drugs is perceived as a violation of the constitution and perpetuation of crime. For one, the existing federal laws on drugs are considered to be constitutionally dubious. The initial explanation of this includes the fact that the federal government is only obligated to exercise the powers that have been delegated to it by the constitution. According to the tenth amendment, all controls are reserved to the states and the people. This means that Congress was not granted additional constitutional powers for the declaration of war on drugs and its consumers. Besides, the prohibition of drugs results in increased levels of crime. This is because drug addicts are forced to get into crimes for them to pay for a habit that they would easily afford it was legalized. The illegality of drugs also makes it hard for drug trade participants to solve their disputes in court. This leads to violence and other crimes as these individuals in drug trade resort to acts of violence to settle their differences (Dennis and William 80). This usually happens when the contracts of drugs black market are breached the resulting violence causes retaliation and subsequent open fire on the streets.
Another reason for the legalization of drugs is because the prohibition of drugs leads to the channelling of billions of dollars to the criminal underworld. With the ban on alcohol, most companies were forced to get into other industries while some were driven entirely out of business. This presented an opportunity for mobsters to benefit from the black market. This means that the legalization of drugs will cause organized crimes to lose a lot of money and also lead to legitimate business selling drugs. In regards to drug prohibition, another reason for the need to legalize drugs is that the act of prohibiting drugs reflects on an instance where the government is throwing money at a problem, and in this case, the drug problem that is prevalent in the USUS. The federal government has spent billions of cash on drug enforcement and drug control, all with no success. Every time the drug use is reported to have gone up, the government sources more funds from taxpayers to enable it to redouble its efforts on fighting the rising drug use in the country. When drug use drops, the government advises against curtailing the spending channelled to drug control programs because progress has just been made on the issue.
Drugs should be legalized because the existence of drug laws has resulted in increased social upheavals and breaking up families. It is important to note that some rules implemented often result in social disorder, and the regulations on drugs in the U.S. is a good example. These laws have varied effects that are considered to be disordering. The prohibition on drugs has significantly fostered a subculture of crime in the countries cities. The black market business has yielded enormous profits for drug dealers, attracting more people to it, especially those that don’t mind being on the wrong side of the law (Bradford). This means that in the inner cities, drug dealers become the most successful people. When the most successful people in a community are criminals, the social order in such communities is disrupted. It also leads to increased drug wars which prevent peace from transpiring in these communities. These communities also don’t experience any progress because the drug dealers and cartels control them.
Drug laws also break up families. This is seen in how most parents are separated from their children following their conviction for offences such as marijuana possession. An excellent example of how drug laws break up families is how Will Foster who used marijuana medicinally to control the pain and swelling caused by rheumatoid arthritis was arrested and convicted for cultivating marijuana. He was sentenced to 93 years, which was later reduced to 20 years Frances 120). Foster is an example of several other citizens that use marijuana medically, but drug laws have led to their separation from their families.
Another reason for legalizing drugs is that the prohibition placed on drugs tend to result in the abuse of civil liberties. The federal government’s battle against drug use in the U.S. has resulted in various instances of abuse of civil rights such as property seizures and entrapping. There are other worse cases of civil liberties abuse, such as the death of individuals like Donald Scott. He was raided in his home, following a pretext that he was cultivating marijuana. This, among other discussed points, shows the failure of the prohibition paradigm, and when a paradigm fails to meet its intended objective, a new paradigm should be developed and implemented. It is time for Congress to let go of the old paradigm and foster the legalization of marijuana. It is time to realize that the drug war is not the answer to the problems linked to drug use.
Drug abuse is both a moral and medical problem. This means that it should be treated as such and not a criminal issue. As a federal country, the U.S. Congress should be able to handle drug prohibition as it did with the ban on alcohol. A closer look into the 21st amendment shows that alcohol sale was not legalized; instead, the amendment repealed the prohibition by the federal government and gave the states the authority to set and determine their alcohol policy. With this opportunity, states were able to come up with various policies on alcohol sale and use. These policies aligned with the preferences of the citizens. This move allowed states to choose different forms of legalizing alcohol.
There is a need for Congress to drop the war in drugs and allow states to set their policies. When this happens, most states will lean towards treating drugs like marijuana, heroin and cocaine the same way most states are handling alcohol. These drugs should be legalized and stores to obtain licenses to sell drugs to adults. On the same note, selling drugs to children should remain illegal as the sale of alcohol to this population is unlawful today. With implementing this policy, Congress will accept that the existing drug policies have failed in solving the drug problem in the USUS. This policy would restore authority to the states as they can make their policies regarding drugs. This is what was envisioned by the founders of the constitution. Another benefit of this policy is that it will significantly save the taxpayers money. It will allow states the power to devise their policies, and this diversity may result in successful systems that would solve the prevalent drug problem. Besides, repealing the prohibition of drugs would result in taking huge profits from the drug business. This will destroy the drug cartels that have concentrated in the inner cities and communities. Crime would also significantly reduce more than it did with the prohibition policy. With fewer crimes, police will focus on other significant crimes such as violent crime, robbery and burglary.
Conclusion
The war on drugs through prohibition and enforcement of drug laws have been unsuccessful for a long time. This means that there is no light at the end of this tunnel and its time for Congress to allow other paradigms to address the drug problem. Drug legalization is one of these paradigms that would give states the power and opportunity to solve the drug problem. The paper has highlighted why there is a need to repeal the prohibition of drugs and allow states the ability to legalize drugs. This argumentative paper posits that the U.S. should decriminalize drugs in the country and put in place specific policies that would govern the sale of drugs. The paper also indicates some of the several benefits that the country would enjoy following the legalization of drugs. These benefits range from economic to social and political. On the economic front, legalization of drugs would mean that the black market would be destroyed as people will be licensed to sell drugs. This means there will be an increase in the country’s revenues since the sellers will not evade taxation compared to what sellers in the black market would do.
Socially, the communities that have been troubled by gangs and gang violence will be able to find peace. This is because the illegal nature of drugs that used to foster gangs and gang violence will be eliminated. Conflicts over selling corners in the inner communities will also be eliminated, and this would mean peace for these communities. Significantly, the crowded prisons will no longer receive more inmates every year since most of the incarcerated individuals are usually charged with drug possession or selling of drugs. This means the amount of government expenditure directed to running these prisons will be reduced, and the government can channel the money into other projects that would benefit society.
By decriminalizing drugs and making them legal, the quality of drugs sold in the designated spots will improve. This can be assured because the government will be involved in the production of the drugs, ensuring that all the standards are met, and no additional elements that may prove to be harmful to the users are used. This means drug use under the regulation of the government will ensure that the safety of the users is prioritized. It would also mean the elimination of outlaw manufacturers of drugs that don’t consider the quality and purity of the drugs. The legalization of drugs will also mean a new life for public health because the health dangers caused by the use of heroin, marijuana and cocaine will be significantly reduced. This is because the policies that inform this legalization would reduce the use of harmful drugs.
Its time for the U.S. to legalize and decriminalize drugs for the great benefits highlighted in the paper. There is more to gain than there is to lose with the legalization of drugs. Despite the several arguments against this move, further emphasis should be put on how the legalization of drugs will change the society that is currently sabotaged by drug abuse. It is time for a change, and legalization is the answer to several issues around drug abuse.
Works Cited
Ball, J C, L Rosen, J A Flueck, and D N Nurco. The United States. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The criminality of Heroin Addicts – When Addicted and When Off Opiates. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 1981. Web.
Bradford, Harry. “14 Ways Marijuana Legalization Could Boost The Economy.” Huffington Post November 7 2012, n. pag.
Dennis, Michael L., and William White. “The Marijuana Legalization Debate: Is There a Middle Ground?” The Drug Legalization Debate, pp. 75–100., doi:10.4135/9781452232263.n4.
Defeis, S. The case for legalization of drugs. Journal of Community Health, 2015, 20(2), 101-109
Decades of Disparity: Drug Arrests and Race in the United States .” www.saferfoundation.org. Human Rights Watch, n.d.
Gray, Eliza. “New Laws Chart Course for Marijuana Legalization: How Colorado and Washington State govern their legal pot markets will be a test case for the rest of the U.S.” Time Magazine. October 19 2013: n. page.
Ghosh, P. The pros and cons of drug legalization in the USUS International Business Times
Hendrickson, James, and Dean Gerstein. “Criminal Involvement Among Young Male Ecstasy Users.” Substance Use & Misuse. 40. (2005): 1557-1575.
Way, A. Colorado and Marijuana Legalization One Year Later: What Has Changed? Huffington Post, 2014. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/art-way/colorado-and-marijuana-le_b_6397664.html
Will, G.F. Should the USUS legalize hard drugs? The Washington Post, 2012. Retrieved from https://www.wasgingtonpost.com/opinions/should-the-us-legalize-hard-drugs/2012/04/11/gIQAX95QBT_story/html