As director of the National Drug Control Policy, William J. Bennett shares his stance on the drug war in “Drug Policy and the Intellectuals”. He addresses the arguments that American’s have proposed in regard to the legalization of drugs. Bennett goes on to say that the justification behind legalizing drugs lacks the seriousness that a topic like this should have. In addition, the results would likely be disastrous. Rather than “taking the profit out of the drug business”, Bennett’ alternative is to make the usage of drugs a less appealing option.
As mentioned in Napoleons’ Button (Couteur and Burreson, 2003), ever since the discovery of penicillin, wound infection declines, saving plenty of lives, especially during the World War 2. The rapid advancement of drugs has indeed come a long way and even revolutionized the world. Drugs such as paracetemol helps to subside one’s fever and provide pain relief. On the other hand, drugs that are widely used illegally such as cocaine would be detrimental to one’s personal health when consumed. In any case, the mere existence of drugs is good in nature.
Sam Quinones utilizes ethos,pathos and logos in order to fight against false information with his credibility and logic as a journalist,to sway their opinion and channel their emotions to help rebuild the community and fight addiction. communities have suffered from the false salvation of using drugs for treatments against addiction when it only fuels the fire. He uses logos to convey this by laying out facts about addiction.one thing the author stated was “The U.S. medical system is good at fighting disease, Cahana believes, and awful at leading people to wellness. ”― Sam Quinones, Dreamland. He said this because he has witnessed communities that were already falling apart be ripped down by government funded opium replacements also known as oxycodone.
In a 1970 article about drugs, narcotics, and the government, “Drugs: Case for Legalizing Marijuana”, Gore Vidal explores how the illegalization of marijuana has created the opposite effect of what the legislation has intended to do. Vidal’s explanation and reasoning behind this idea is not entirely associated with drug users and the population in general, but also has a strong link to monetary gains in government bureaus and large-scale mafias. These financial motive claims are supported by logical appeal and evidence.1 To begin, Vidal points out that, “both the Bureau of Narcotics and the Mafia want strong laws against the sale and use of drugs because if drugs are sold at cost there would be no money in it for anyone” (par. 10). This statement
In his article, “Toward a Policy on Drugs,” Elliot Currie discusses “the magnitude and severity of our drug crisis” (para. 21), and how “no other country has anything resembling the American drug problem” (para. 21). The best way to describe America’s drug problem is that it is a hole continuously digs itself deeper. America’s drug issues were likely comparable to other country’s at one point in time, but today it can be blamed on the “street cultures” (para. 21) that continue to use and spread the use of illegal drugs. These street cultures transcend the common stereotype of drug users, such as low income communities in cities or welfare recipients, and can be found in every economic class and location. They are groups of people who have
As a REACH member, I had the privilege of witnessing a support group for substance abusers and alcoholics. One man, in particular, spoke of his addiction to cocaine. I listened to his speech that described his introduction to the substance, the hardships he faced, and his slow but successful recovery. I, though, had one question in mind: to what measures will users and even sellers go for drugs? Sudhir Venkatesh’s Gang Leader For a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets answers my question.
Overall, Gore Vidal’s argument of legalizing drugs is very compelling. The style of writing is unique and keeps the reader interested. Vidal takes a popular argument (in 2016) and provides a sound argument in support of
Upon reading Gore Vidals "Case for Legalizing Marijuana" one may wonder why drugs are not legal in the United States of America. Afterall, several valid reasonings were made throughout the article. There is a demand for drugs and many people are supplying them, while also making a small fortune. If drugs were made legal and sold for high prices, their market would decrease because many people would not be able to afford them. Most people involved in the drug world do not know the consequences of that which they consume.
Bachman and Kenneth E. Sharpe thoroughly analyze the possible ripple effects that could potentially come from the War on Drugs. Written in 1990, they had not yet seen the full effect of the War on Drugs, as it was still relatively new. However, because there were so many indicators of what may come, their predictions remained valid. Bachman and Sharpe portrayed the War on Drugs as threat to American people and fundamentals, for it would only do more harm than good and violate many aspects of the constitution. In their examination of the War on Drugs, they had different sections of points that the reader could differentiate between, filling their paragraphs with plenty of facts, statistics and quotes.
The use of narcotics like cocaine, claimed many lives and earned widespread coverage by media and news. Following this Nancy Reagan began the “War on Drugs”, a campaign to combat pre-existing drug usage and prevent future
Opioids is a big issue because Americans are addicted to drugs especially opioids. After a surgery doctors give patients opioids because they are a pain killer. After patients have been taking opioids they soon are not in pain anymore but they keep taking the pills because it makes their body feel relieved. People get addicted to this and can’t function without them.
The continuous use of narcotics results in addiction, and financial struggles due to the costly upkeep. “Financial problems are one of the major side effects of drug and substance abuse” (Buaggett, 2015). Addicts cannot adequately take an active role in the economic activities, as the use of drugs inhibits the abilities of the users to earn a daily living. Due to the instability of finances, this would result in selling personal belongings to continue funding the substance of choice, and depending on the addicts living situation, this could lead to losing their house or being removed from their current housing. While being under the influence, an addicts voice of reason is jeopardized, resulting in criminal activities which raise the chances of being apprehended by the law enforcers, as well as, heavy fines are imposed.
For example, agencies have been established with the sole intent to manage drug use and distribution and technology has been exclusively developed to detect the presence of drugs. Yet, evidence has indicated that such exhaustive efforts have been relatively unsuccessful. First, it has been assumed that drugs have perpetuated violence in society and based on this rationale, it was believed that by the suppressing the pervasiveness of drugs that incidents of violence would simultaneously diminish. However, reality has failed to align with the expectations that had initially been anticipated. Research findings have suggested that the decriminalization of drugs would result in a less adversarial drug market in which conflicts have tended to arise among dealers as well as between dealers and buyers (Common Sense for Drug Policy, 2007, p. 21).
Drugs are the dangerous substances that will destroy the consumer both physically and mentally; therefore, it is necessary to determine these substances restrictively. In order to do that, I am strongly assuring that the drugs should be legalized. There are three main reasons why the drugs should be legalized: diminution of crime rates, health guarantee, and extending of drugs regulation. Drugs are one of the crime sources, although not by the drugs, itself, but the condition. Illegal drugs are rare products that could not be found in the normal market, the cost for its rarity is totally expensive.
As of recent, the war on drugs has been a very often discussed topic due to many controversial issues. Some people believe the War on Drugs has been quite successful due to the amount of drugs seized and the amount of drug kingpins arrested. I believe this to be the wrong mindset when it comes to the war on drugs. The war on drugs isn’t a winnable one so we must do all that is possible to assist those who struggle with drug addiction and decriminalize small amounts of drugs. These minor changes in the way we combat drugs will create significant change and have lasting effects.
