Drug Legalization
LEGALIZATION OF RECREATIONAL DRUG USE
In 1920 the sale and consumption of alcohol was criminalized across the United
States pursuant to the 18th Amendment. Consumer demand nevertheless presented a ripe opportunity for criminal usurpation of the illicit production and distribution of alcohol.
Consequently, by the time Prohibition was subsequently repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933, the criminal enterprises that it had spawned were so firmly entrenched into the landscape of the American economy that most of them still retain considerable power even today (Dershowitz, 2002).
Modern proponents of decriminalizing illicit drugs point to the complete failure of Prohibition to achieve its goals, suggesting that contemporary laws criminalizing recreational drugs such as marijuana, heroin and cocaine are as ineffective as was the 18th
Amendment, and more harmful to society than the aggregate of all the actual harm caused by the unrestricted use of recreational drugs.
Predictably, those opposed to decriminalization fear the explosion of drug addiction and drug related crime that would follow as a consequence of their unrestricted use. They point to the well established link between drug abuse, juvenile delinquency and petty crimes necessitated by expensive, addictive narcotics...
, 1995). Some of laws and restrictions imposed by USA between 1960 and 1997 are as follows: 1) "Drug Abuse Control Amendments-- referred to amphetamines, barbiturates and LSD as dangerous drugs and allowed for FDA to recommend to Department of Health Education and Welfare to control them and other drugs that may later be deemed a problem. (1965)" (History of Drug Laws and Restrictions in the U.S., reference 4) 2) "Comprehensive Drug Abuse
Legalizing Marijuana Marijuana was declared an illegal drug in the U.S.A. with the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act in 1937 under dubious circumstances. Since that time numerous studies have shown that the drug is less harmful than tobacco and alcohol. Despite the available evidence and the enormous cost of enforcing the marijuana ban, it is hard to understand why this relatively harmless drug continues to remain illegal in the United States.
Drugs and Behavior What are drugs exactly and what are some ways drug users get away with illegal usage? Defining drugs use is a surprisingly difficult proposition. The definition as stated in the session II review is as follows: "any substance taken into the body that alters the function or structure of the body organs ... that changes body state or mental function." But this definition might not only apply to the
illegal drugs and why they should be legalized. It is not that Block and Steinbeck disagree about making drugs legal, but that they disagree about why that should be done. Block's argument is mostly economic in nature, while Steinbeck's argument is much more geared toward the reduction of overcrowding in prisons. She argues that much of the crime that is related to drugs is because those drugs are illegal
"As a case in point we may take the known fact of the prevalence of reefer and dope addiction in Negro areas. This is essentially explained in terms of poverty, slum living, and broken families, yet it would be easy to show the lack of drug addiction among other ethnic groups where the same conditions apply." Inciardi 248() Socio-economic effects Legalizing drugs has been deemed to have many socio-economic effects. A study
Drug Tests and Government Benefits Recently, there has been discussion regarding government benefits, such as unemployment. This discussion has focused on a new, potential requirement to receive benefits such as welfare: drug testing. People who are applying for benefits like welfare or unemployment would have to be tested for illegal drugs (Alcindor, 2012). If they were found to use drugs, they could be denied benefits. This would seen to make sense,
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