Drug Legalization

Below is a short sample of the essay Drug Legalization. If you sign up you could be reading the rest of this essay in under two minutes. Registered users should login to view the essay.

Drug Legalization

The debate over drugs and drug legalization is an increasingly important political issue as we proceed into the twenty-first century. It is important that we proceed into this era with a keen sense of direction on this issue. Whether we increase our current laws or we proceed in the direction legalization. It is obvious that some reformation of our current policy is needed. But, the drug legalization debate is not a issue that should only concern our political officials and law makers. It should concern all of us, since all of us are affected by the laws governing the trade and use of drugs. In this paper I will address the drug legalization debate from the view of the anti-legalist and the view of the legalist. I will also address the historical issues and arguments that lead to the prohibition on drugs and the subsequent War on Drugs.
Before we look ahead to the debate over legalization, we should first look back at what took place to bring about the current drug prohibition. The drug hysteria first started around the turn of the century, by Orville Marshall who documented San Francisco’s opium dens. In his report he documented the people who frequented these dens of sin. He found, that a significant number of the patrons were criminals of varying degree and classified the rest as the undesirables of society. What he proposed was for federal intervention in an attempt to lower crime and rid society of the scourge that drugs represented.
The report lead to the Harrison Act of 1914, which restricted the use of opiates and cocaine to medicinal uses only. The Harrison Acts language is relatively vague leading to varied interpretations and throughout the years has become the cornerstone of the American drug prohibition. Leading to the formation of the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), in 1974.
It has also allowed for further restrictions on the use of drugs for both personal and medicinal use. In recent times it has also served as a spring board for much of the recent legislature regarding mandatory minimums and the expansion of asset forfeiture laws. Which allows drug enforcement agency’s to confiscate any and all property that is suspected to be related to the transportation or distribution of drugs.
In most arguments regarding the legalization of drugs they are quick to point out that the drug prohibition is doomed to the failure of the Eighteenth Amendment (alcohol prohibition). Anti-legalist point out that this is not the case. That mu...

The complete article is about 1975 words and 7.9 pages long.

To continue reading the complete article, subscribe below and get free instant unlimited access.

Once you have registered for an Account, No refunds can be issued.
Please make sure you look over the site before you purchase an account!!!