StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

The War on Drugs is a Failure. So What Can Be Done About it - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
Experience has shown that the prohibitive approach towards drug is a total failure. Despite the draconian measures imposed against its distribution and use, the problem on drugs is still prevalent…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92% of users find it useful
The War on Drugs is a Failure. So What Can Be Done About it
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "The War on Drugs is a Failure. So What Can Be Done About it"

Download file to see previous pages

In addition, 60% of the total violence in the United States is related to drug prohibition which means that the prohibition of drugs only induces violence (Maginnis) The violence that resulted in the prohibition of drug is not new. It is usually the case when something is banned. The same was the case when alcohol was still prohibited. It was only lifted during the Great Depression when the government adopted a pragmatist approach to the problem due to the escalating violence associated with its prohibition and instead opted to make money out of it to help lift the country out of the depression by taxing it.

As a result, violence associated with alcohol became almost non-existent. The same is also the case in gambling. Violence becomes the norm when it becomes illegal and so is with prostitution when it is outlawed. Violence becomes a natural consequence of a prohibitive policy because it creates black markets where the law cannot supervise but would become otherwise if the industry is legalized. The problem of violence in prohibiting drugs is compounded by the fact that a prohibitive policy corrupts institutions.

Since a prohibitive policy threatens the industry of illegal drugs, it is inevitable that bribery, extortion, threat and other undesirable practices will sprout for the industry to survive. It is worsen by the fact that the enforcement of banning drugs comes with a price that drains public purse. “Federal, state and local governments spend roughly $44 billion per year to enforce drug prohibition. These same governments forego roughly $33 billion per year in tax revenue they could collect from legalized drugs, assuming these were taxed at rates similar to those on alcohol and tobacco” (Miron). . The prohibitive policy against drugs does not only forgo the government income from taxing it but instead make it spend to enforce a policy that is futile.

The strange thing about rabidly banning drugs with draconian measure is that countries which prohibits it such as United States has the highest rates of cocaine and marijuana abuse compared to countries which has a liberal drug laws such as E.U. and Portugal which has the lowest. In a study conducted by Cato Institute early April this year, it reported that policies that prohibit the use of drug is usually “based on speculation and fear mongering rather than empirical evidence on the effects of more lenient drug policies” (Szalavitz).

The fear that legalizing illicit drugs will only exacerbate the drug problem did not actually happen. It showed that the legalization of drugs in Portugal has neutralized its ill effects which used to be its problem that is now pervasive in countries that ban illicit drugs. Consider the results of the Portugal’s policy of decriminalizing drugs. What was feared that the country will become a nation of drug addicts did not actually happen but in fact, helped solved the drug problem. Just when it was anticipated that drug use will rise, Portugal in fact “had the lowest rate of lifetime marijuana use in people over 15 in the E.U”. The use of the former illegal drugs among seventh through ninth graders also fell from 14.1% to 10.6% and the drug use in older teens also declined.

Lifetime heroin use among 16-to-18-year-olds also fell from 2.5% to 1.8%. This development had a positive side effect on the curbing new HIV infection because it fell 17% because needles do not need to be shared anymore with legalizing the drugs (Szalavitz). Also,

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“The War on Drugs is a Failure. So What Can Be Done About it Research Paper”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1450883-legalization-of-some-drugs
(The War on Drugs Is a Failure. So What Can Be Done About It Research Paper)
https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1450883-legalization-of-some-drugs.
“The War on Drugs Is a Failure. So What Can Be Done About It Research Paper”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1450883-legalization-of-some-drugs.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF The War on Drugs is a Failure. So What Can Be Done About it

How successful has the US 'War on Drugs' been in bringing the Transnational Illegal Drugs trade to an end

President Obama, says Mendoza (2010), has also implicitly acknowledged that the war on drugs has been a failure, stating that, in the future, drug use will be treated as more of a public health issue, and that the focus going forward would be on prevention and treatment.... Mendoza (2010) states that there also hidden costs to the war on drugs, including a justice system which is overburdened, a health care system that is also taxed, and environmental destruction....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

The War on Drugs

This should raise the question in the minds of the American populace as to whether these state and federal billions are being spent appropriately, as it appears that the war on drugs is not making any significant impact on drug trafficking and consumption.... invests approximately $37 billion yearly in the pursuit… This paper describes various statistics regarding the War on Drugs, highlighting specific actions being undertaken to correct drug use problems in America. The r on drugs is a combined effort at the prohibition and stoppage of drugs into the United States, involving various military operations, financial expenditures, and propaganda initiatives to change the social attitude regarding the acceptability of drug consumption....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

War on drugs: George W. Bush

History With the number of Vietnam vets returning from war addicted to narcotics, President Nixon officially declared the opening of the war on drugs in 1971, primarily directed against heroin addiction.... Failing to stop drug trafficking was not his fault, however, because it cannot be done and, as this discussion will argue, should not be attempted.... America's war against recreational drugs is an example of good intentions gone terribly wrong....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Analysis of the Articles on Failure of War on Drugs

hellip; Initially, people only thought about the prohibition of drugs as the only solution to this problem but with the passage of time, when in spite of all measures taken in terms of prohibition, there were not required results by the war on drugs, the authors like Buckley, Nadelmann, Schmoke, McNamara, Sweet, Szasz, and Duke come up with new thinking on the issue.... According to the mentioned authors, the war on drugs has failed.... Buckley in his essay about the failure of the war on drugs, drug-taking is a gregarious activity....
7 Pages (1750 words) Article

The War on Drugs: America's Failed Attempt at Prohibition

To support these views, it would be appropriate to consider the pros and cons, attempts and failures, decisions – right and wrong that have resulted in the war on drugs: Americas Failed Attempt at Prohibition as the thesis statement to establish certain facts.... ‘war on drugs', a phrase coined by President Nixon in the wake of noticing several “U.... Drugs and other narcotics have influenced human life in the modern world to such an extent that decisive measures to curb its infiltration into society and the social web have proven to be a failure....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay

War on Drugs and War on Terrorism

Despite popular belief that the war on drugs have taken a backseat to the war against global terrorism, the war against drugs continues to be a priority in the US… and foreign policy strategies.... It is therefore hardly surprising that the DEA would advocate that both the war on drugs and the war on terrorism be combined.... The US war on terrorism is predicted on an urgent need to defend and protect the US, “the American people, and their livelihoods”....
30 Pages (7500 words) Essay

The War on Drugs

This paper “the war on drugs” is a critical evaluation of the fact that the war on drugs has not only been a failure, but it has also inflicted greater damage to the United States than the drug abuse it attempts to eradicate.... The implications of the war on drugs have raised concerns.... According to Miron (2004), it consumes millions of dollars annually trying to maintain the war on drugs.... Advertisements regarding drugs are mainly used to sensitize the population about drug abuse....
15 Pages (3750 words) Research Paper

Reality of War on Mexican Drug Cartels

The paper “Reality of war on Mexican Drug Cartels” seeks to evaluate the drug war in Mexico, which goes far beyond just ordinary drug trafficking as it entails actual armed conflicts masterminded by the leaders of the drug trafficking organizations.... hellip; The author of the paper states that the topic on drug trafficking and the war against it is commonplace in the US because the proliferation of the drugs issue is stretching beyond the borders of Mexico to cause a real harm in the US soil giving rise to the many drug-related issues in the country....
7 Pages (1750 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us