In 1971, the U.S. federal government declared a “war on drugs.” This initiative resulted in much harsher criminal penalties for drug use and possession and other drug law offences. Discharging patients “sooner, but sicker” can have the unintended consequence of fuelling revolving door hospitalizations, a trend that disrupts mental health recovery and increases treatment costs. “The best evidence of the failure of prohibition is the government`s current war on drugs. Instead of implementing a strategy of prevention, research, education and social programs aimed at solving problems such as persistent poverty, long-term unemployment and the deteriorating living conditions in our inner cities, this war has used a law enforcement strategy. As this military approach continues to devour billions of taxpayers` money and land tens of thousands of people in prison, illicit drug trafficking thrives, violence escalates, and drug abuse continues to weaken lives. The truth is also this: drug abuse is different from drug use, just as alcoholism is different from the weekend cocktail. Instead of waging the war of abuse from a moral and shameful attitude that does not work at any age, we could try a medical model that illuminates with facts and demands human wisdom. Think of it as an investment in credibility so that potential users are prepared for the discussion about the consequences that must follow. “We have made significant progress in combating drug use and trafficking in America. Now is not the time to give up. The legalization lobby claims that the fight against drugs cannot be won. However, total drug use has decreased by more than a third over the past twenty years, while cocaine use has fallen by 70%.
The government could generate tax revenue from a legalized drug market. In June 2019, it was reported that the US state of Colorado had surpassed $1 billion in revenue from the sale of cannabis since legalization in 2014. The Liberal Democrats have suggested that legalising cannabis in the UK could bring in £1.5 billion a year. There could also be huge savings in money and resources if illicit drug trafficking did not need to be monitored to the same extent. Some argue that decriminalization could lead to legalization. Legalizing dangerous drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin would likely increase rates of addiction and other serious diseases. Decriminalization could also increase the supply of drugs in the illicit drug market. Higher deliveries usually lead to lower prices. This could allow people to financially support their addiction. There are a number of pros and cons to legalizing drugs, and there is no simple answer. To further muddy the waters, for some, there is a moral or ideological argument, while others prefer to use evidence and statistics. Drug legislation in the UK can also be a highly politicised issue, and the debate will undoubtedly continue as people on both sides highlight the pros and cons of legalising drugs in the UK.
While there are many advantages, there are also many arguments against legalizing drugs. The disadvantages could be: there are a number of pros and cons to legalizing drugs and there is no single simple answer. The legalization of drugs is a highly controversial issue and can provoke strong opinions on both sides of the drug law debate. It is undeniable that many drugs can have an extremely negative impact on individual users and society as a whole. Addiction can affect the physical and mental well-being of the user in a very destructive way and lead to problematic behavior that affects others around them. This is generally accepted by both parties. Arguments for and against legalizing drugs tend to focus on whether criminalizing drug use – the “war on drugs,” as it is often called – is the most effective way to deal with the problem. Since the beginning of the war on drugs, the criminal justice system has allocated significant resources to minor drug-related crime. Decriminalisation would allow law enforcement authorities to spend more time and money fighting serious and violent crime. Unfortunately, the police have been pushed into a war that they did not start and cannot win.
It was not the police who lobbied for the passage of Harrison`s Act in 1914, which was the first to criminalize drugs. If drugs had been banned because police complained that drug use was causing crime and rioting, the policy would have been more acceptable to the public and would have resulted in greater compliance. And the belief that the use of certain drugs is immoral dampens the ability to rationally question and discuss the effects of the war on drugs. The legalization of drugs will lead to an increase in use and dependence. Legalization has already been tried and failed miserably. Alaska`s legalization experiment in the 1970s allowed teens in the state to use marijuana more than twice as often as other teens nationwide. This led Alaskans to vote to recriminalize marijuana in 1990. Should drugs be legalized? What for? Is it time to lift the ban on recreational drugs like marijuana and cocaine? Can drug trafficking be stopped? If so, what would be the best way to reduce consumption? The war on drugs adds to this stigma by implying that addiction is a moral failure rather than a medical condition. And “poison” is also a deceptive Shibboleth.
The widespread propaganda that illegal drugs are “deadly poisons” is a hoax. There is little or no medical evidence of long-term side effects due to persistent and moderate use of uncontaminated marijuana, cocaine or heroin. If these substances – most of which have been consumed in large quantities for centuries – were responsible for chronic, progressive or debilitating diseases, they would certainly have appeared in clinical practice and/or on the autopsy table.
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