Lea Esker I understand that drugs are dangerous and also, that there need to be laws to protect people, not only from others, but also from themselves. There are people out there claiming the total legalization of any kind of drug and I don’t think that would be the solution. Laws do influence the way a population perceives whatever they are dealing with (owning a gun and shooting people you don’t know that happen to walk through your backyard is totally normal here, while most of us germans are just shocked about it-…I really don’t get it, and I never will. its dangerous!why the heck would you want the whole population to walk around with something that kills as quickly and as precisely??…anyways…) I think it would be a huge mistake to make people think that drugs are something accepted as “normal” by this society. At the same time, the drug laws that do exist don’t seem to work at all, and do need to be changed. How the heck is it, that meth and weed are “the same thing”? and should we really lock up kids, that are experimenting with drugs, with serious criminals where they learn all the wrong values? Label them, so their chances of living a “normal” socially accepted life shrink drastically?
2.5 trillion dollars have been spent to fight this war on drugs. Some say this in an unwinnable fight. Well I believe that 2.5 trillion dollars was well spent and just because you believe it is unwinnable does not mean we shouldn't keep fighting. Someday, somehow, somewhere the use and transportation of drugs will be stopped. Along as we keep advertising and have individuals share their terrible addictions stories to the youth we have a chance to end the war on drugs. I agree with some drugs being legalized but not every drug should be legalized. Yes some drugs are beneficial to some medical cases but most drugs are dangerous and more harmful to your health than it will ever be helpful. To the drugs that do get legalized need to have strong and strict lawful punishments. If they are willing to make drugs legal the consequences should be harsh. So not every individual shall abuse it.
I can see both sides of legalizing drugs, but feel that not all the drugs should be legalized. I think that marijuana or “pot” should be legalized, simply because out of all the drugs I feel this drug is less addictive and has less harmful consequences. People on marijuana don’t have drug rages like those on heron or meth, and most are recreational users, instead of being addicted like those who use harsher drugs. I don’t feel that crack, heron, cocaine or meth should be legalized because of the horrific side effects and the levels of addiction that comes along with these drugs. One solution to helping the fight on drugs is to control our borders, mainly the Mexican border, since this is where most of the drugs are being smuggled. I think if the border was controlled, less drugs would be in America and since there would be less drugs the price would sky rocket and people would be less likely to afford the drugs. I also think more money should be put into place in the rehabilitation aspect of drugs, locking drug offenders in jail doesn’t help the core problem of drugs, and actually makes the war on drugs worse because help people make more connections but also drugs in jail are more accessible. Drugs will always be a problem, and I don’t think there will ever be a solution that will eradicate the drugs and stop people from using.
I agree with everyone on some points. I believe at some point the 2.5 trillion dollars spent with pay off but what needs to happen first is a plan that will actual work and that is well thought out. Locking people up because they are caught with drugs will not make them stop. They have to be willing to stop and locking them up may decrease the usage but people in prison still find ways to get drugs and use them. Legalizing marijuana would be okay if it wasn't going to be abused. We all know as Americans that it will be abused but then again once its legal maybe people won't see it as something to do anymore, as if they were only following what others were doing. If it were to be legalized then they would have to be more strict and even then, there are people who are selling the drug on the streets. People are hurting themselves and it shouldn't be our jobs to watch after them and tell them whats good for them and whats not good for them. Just like kristi said about the fast food, people are consuming fatty foods on their own and its their choices whether they want to gain weight and be unhealthy. So with drugs, it is the individuals choice whether they want to put these "drugs" in their bodies. Although they do cause harm with the people who aren't doing drugs because some drugs "trip" people out and do things they aren't fully aware of and sometimes commit murders or assaults and etc. So there are two sides of this whole problem. The War on Drugs will always be in effect and all we can do is inform people of their effects and help the people who are "hooked" get unhooked.
Personally, I understand why there are people who feel passionate about either legalizing or not, drugs. I understand that there are some important facts about each drugs effect on people that should be taken into great consideration, and I agree to some extent with everyone’s different points. However, I agree mostly with those who support the legalization of at least some of these addictive and harmful drugs. I think that 75 trillion dollars is a lot of money, which has been spent as a result of people who want to use drugs, some recreationally and some who are addicted. And I think that taxing the current legal drugs is a great idea, and I will agree with legalizing marijuana and taxing it as well. Obviously, educating people about the harmful effects of drugs should be most important, and just like everything else; people should have their own choice. I don’t do drugs and I never have, when I was a teenager, I was offered marijuana, and cocaine several times, all those times I refused because I was educated. Instead of banning drugs, some of these, should be legalized, with strict restrictions on age and such, and should be correctly taxed.
$2.5 trillion IS a large amount of money having been spent on something that hasn't been fixed over years: the drug on wars! Obviously this number will just keep going up. Most of the marijuana has been smuggled into the U.S. through Mexico, but sadly, some officials even take part in this. There is "war on drugs", but how if the ones that should be helping in stopping the smuggling only help! In many instances, we see that there are officials taking money and covering up for drugs being smuggled in and such. I agree to a certain extent that marijuana may as well be legalized and this would be problem to society in that some will abuse it and possibly cause disasters such as homicides and other idiotic actions that marijuana may have an effect upon the individuals. Selling marijuana is obviously a huge thing to gangs, they profit from this to make money for their own or for their gang. Legalizing it may cause a bit of a downfall for some gangs =) And I agree, maybe taxing it may be a good way to go about it if it were to be legalized. Now looking at it through a health perspective, yes some are prescribed to and need a certain drug for different purposes, but sometimes it could be a problem. It is mentioned on page 99 of our book "Trusted Criminals", that some pharmacists play role in diluting drugs prescribed for a large number of cancer patients and "...by diluting the drug, pharmacists greatly enhance his/her profits".
The war on drugs first started in the 1930’s with prohibition, which was supposed prohibit the sale of alcohol. Of course this failed as people began to make their own forms of alcohol by bootlegging and illegally selling alcohol. The 1950’s Einsenhower vowed to stamp out drugs and the 1970’s Nixon Drug Enforcement Agency was supposed to get a handle on the situation. If you haven’t caught on by now there is a pattern of failure. It is now 2011 and the so called “war on drugs” is one of the biggest problems facing America today. In order for the “war on drugs” to work I think the government needs to look at the situation as a whole and not just focus on the distribution and transporting of illegal drugs. Drug use has risen in American to around 19 million people. If we ever want to have a hope at stopping the distribution of drugs, we need to figure out a way to help the people who have become addicted. Honestly, selling drugs is a business and like any business it’s all about supply and demand. As long as there is a high demand for illegal substances, there will always be someone will to provide the product. Until the government can figure out how to either help those addicted to drugs or discourage drug use all together, I don’t see this problem going away any time soon.
I understand that we have spent a lot of money on the war against drugs. I believe that in some cases, the money has been well spent. Legalizing drugs may be a benefit, but I also agree with Bailey that “Not all drugs should be legalized”. The one drug that should be legalized is marijuana, due to the fact that marijuana, in my opinion is more of a mental addiction and I have yet to meet or see one person that committed a serious crime because marijuana (nothing added to it) impaired their judgment. If we legalize marijuana of course there will have to be some provisions, like it can only be used for medical purposes. Also, if we placed a tax on marijuana we might get back some of the money we pay to continuously fight the war on drugs. Once we realize that the war on drugs should be both a criminal and health issue, we might start winning this war, by working together.
I understand where people argue for legalizing certain drugs for medicinal use, because there are already heavy narcotics that are used to help with pain and such. But to say that all drugs should be legalized for all people seems awfully foolish. I don't understand how anybody can justify that the legalization of drugs will better our lives. There are already so many problems with DUI, and alcohol is legal. Imagine how many more fatalities will be witnessed if anyone can any drug whenever they want then hop in their car and drive off. This is not a solution to anything. I think that we should continue to fight the war against drugs because it's obviously a problem in our country. It may not seem like it's very effective, but the people who are fighting are still doing a lot for our country. Yes, there is a lot of drug crime still going on, but there has been so much crime stopped because of the work of those fighting against drugs. I think that they should continue and do whatever they can to help solve this problem. They may not see instant results and this may take a while to overcome this problem, but it is the right and moral thing to do.
In my opinion, like that of most, the war on drugs is unwinnable. People who bring these drugs into our country are always a step ahead of our governement officials. Does that mean we should give up? Heck no! The fear of getting caught will eliminate some, getting caught caught will eliminate some, and some of these drug traffickers will eliminate some themselves. Legalizing Marijuana in my opinion is not a big deal. I have never heard of anyone "overdosing" on Marijuana. Someone may have thought that the person on Marijuana was dead, but he will probably wake up in an hour hungrier than heck. I have heard of people overdosing on Meth, cocaine and heroin though. These drugs all have to have something done to them whereas marijuana just grows in the ground. The government should put a tax on Marijuana, and make tons of money off of it. I think that would help our countries debt honestly. How do we stop people form growing their own plants? Well you make that illegal still and if you get caught, there should be an automatic sentence. Someone that uses Marijuana should be required to get it through a dispensary, and that is the only place where you can get marijuana.
The war on drugs has always been a problem for the US government. I think the war on drugs will always be somewhat of a problem. It’s a billion dollar industry, cartels have numerous amounts of money invested into the distribution and making of various types of drugs. Putting an end to the drug war will not happen overnight, if ever. We can however put a kink in their methods and slow down the distribution into the US.
to me, to put an end to drugs is an unattainable goal. the making and selling of drugs will always exist and will always been a fast and easy way to make money. im not saying that its not illegal or not dangerous but there will always be those who are willing to take that chance. like some of the other posts, the best we can do is to slow the process down.
It is amazing how much our morals have changed since 1973. Meaning that back then President Nixon claimed that every drug was harmful and should be taken bare of, but now in 2011 we have a lot of talk about legalizing marijuana for domestic income gains. The United States needs to realize that the “War on Drugs,” is an unattainable dream of a drug free nation. Quit spending all of our money, $2.5 trillion to be exact. That is way to much money to be spending on a subject like this, instead we should be using that money to pay back our debts. Also since the only thing this plan has brought is a higher incarceration that is more of our money going away to the government. We, meaning the United States government, needs to just chalk this “war” up as a lose and move on to another idea to keep Americans off of drugs, or just accept the fact that people do drugs.
40 years of wrecking lives for one other reason than as a talking point in an election. That sums up this war on drugs better than anything else. Calling this police action a “War” was the stupidest thing our government has done. Wars are horrible things, wars cause nothing but pain and death, wars have lasting and horrible effects. So for this government and every piss poor media outlet to throw the term around pisses me off to no end. We need to end this losing “war’ and stop start calling it by it real name a blank check for the US government to take the people rights away under the guise of crime prevention.
Lea Esker
ReplyDeleteI understand that drugs are dangerous and also, that there need to be laws to protect people, not only from others, but also from themselves.
There are people out there claiming the total legalization of any kind of drug and I don’t think that would be the solution. Laws do influence the way a population perceives whatever they are dealing with (owning a gun and shooting people you don’t know that happen to walk through your backyard is totally normal here, while most of us germans are just shocked about it-…I really don’t get it, and I never will. its dangerous!why the heck would you want the whole population to walk around with something that kills as quickly and as precisely??…anyways…) I think it would be a huge mistake to make people think that drugs are something accepted as “normal” by this society.
At the same time, the drug laws that do exist don’t seem to work at all, and do need to be changed.
How the heck is it, that meth and weed are “the same thing”? and should we really lock up kids, that are experimenting with drugs, with serious criminals where they learn all the wrong values? Label them, so their chances of living a “normal” socially accepted life shrink drastically?
2.5 trillion dollars have been spent to fight this war on drugs. Some say this in an unwinnable fight. Well I believe that 2.5 trillion dollars was well spent and just because you believe it is unwinnable does not mean we shouldn't keep fighting. Someday, somehow, somewhere the use and transportation of drugs will be stopped. Along as we keep advertising and have individuals share their terrible addictions stories to the youth we have a chance to end the war on drugs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some drugs being legalized but not every drug should be legalized. Yes some drugs are beneficial to some medical cases but most drugs are dangerous and more harmful to your health than it will ever be helpful.
To the drugs that do get legalized need to have strong and strict lawful punishments. If they are willing to make drugs legal the consequences should be harsh. So not every individual shall abuse it.
I can see both sides of legalizing drugs, but feel that not all the drugs should be legalized. I think that marijuana or “pot” should be legalized, simply because out of all the drugs I feel this drug is less addictive and has less harmful consequences. People on marijuana don’t have drug rages like those on heron or meth, and most are recreational users, instead of being addicted like those who use harsher drugs. I don’t feel that crack, heron, cocaine or meth should be legalized because of the horrific side effects and the levels of addiction that comes along with these drugs. One solution to helping the fight on drugs is to control our borders, mainly the Mexican border, since this is where most of the drugs are being smuggled. I think if the border was controlled, less drugs would be in America and since there would be less drugs the price would sky rocket and people would be less likely to afford the drugs. I also think more money should be put into place in the rehabilitation aspect of drugs, locking drug offenders in jail doesn’t help the core problem of drugs, and actually makes the war on drugs worse because help people make more connections but also drugs in jail are more accessible. Drugs will always be a problem, and I don’t think there will ever be a solution that will eradicate the drugs and stop people from using.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone on some points. I believe at some point the 2.5 trillion dollars spent with pay off but what needs to happen first is a plan that will actual work and that is well thought out. Locking people up because they are caught with drugs will not make them stop. They have to be willing to stop and locking them up may decrease the usage but people in prison still find ways to get drugs and use them. Legalizing marijuana would be okay if it wasn't going to be abused. We all know as Americans that it will be abused but then again once its legal maybe people won't see it as something to do anymore, as if they were only following what others were doing. If it were to be legalized then they would have to be more strict and even then, there are people who are selling the drug on the streets. People are hurting themselves and it shouldn't be our jobs to watch after them and tell them whats good for them and whats not good for them. Just like kristi said about the fast food, people are consuming fatty foods on their own and its their choices whether they want to gain weight and be unhealthy. So with drugs, it is the individuals choice whether they want to put these "drugs" in their bodies. Although they do cause harm with the people who aren't doing drugs because some drugs "trip" people out and do things they aren't fully aware of and sometimes commit murders or assaults and etc. So there are two sides of this whole problem. The War on Drugs will always be in effect and all we can do is inform people of their effects and help the people who are "hooked" get unhooked.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I understand why there are people who feel passionate about either legalizing or not, drugs. I understand that there are some important facts about each drugs effect on people that should be taken into great consideration, and I agree to some extent with everyone’s different points. However, I agree mostly with those who support the legalization of at least some of these addictive and harmful drugs. I think that 75 trillion dollars is a lot of money, which has been spent as a result of people who want to use drugs, some recreationally and some who are addicted. And I think that taxing the current legal drugs is a great idea, and I will agree with legalizing marijuana and taxing it as well. Obviously, educating people about the harmful effects of drugs should be most important, and just like everything else; people should have their own choice. I don’t do drugs and I never have, when I was a teenager, I was offered marijuana, and cocaine several times, all those times I refused because I was educated. Instead of banning drugs, some of these, should be legalized, with strict restrictions on age and such, and should be correctly taxed.
ReplyDelete$2.5 trillion IS a large amount of money having been spent on something that hasn't been fixed over years: the drug on wars! Obviously this number will just keep going up. Most of the marijuana has been smuggled into the U.S. through Mexico, but sadly, some officials even take part in this. There is "war on drugs", but how if the ones that should be helping in stopping the smuggling only help! In many instances, we see that there are officials taking money and covering up for drugs being smuggled in and such. I agree to a certain extent that marijuana may as well be legalized and this would be problem to society in that some will abuse it and possibly cause disasters such as homicides and other idiotic actions that marijuana may have an effect upon the individuals. Selling marijuana is obviously a huge thing to gangs, they profit from this to make money for their own or for their gang. Legalizing it may cause a bit of a downfall for some gangs =) And I agree, maybe taxing it may be a good way to go about it if it were to be legalized. Now looking at it through a health perspective, yes some are prescribed to and need a certain drug for different purposes, but sometimes it could be a problem. It is mentioned on page 99 of our book "Trusted Criminals", that some pharmacists play role in diluting drugs prescribed for a large number of cancer patients and "...by diluting the drug, pharmacists greatly enhance his/her profits".
ReplyDeleteThe war on drugs first started in the 1930’s with prohibition, which was supposed prohibit the sale of alcohol. Of course this failed as people began to make their own forms of alcohol by bootlegging and illegally selling alcohol. The 1950’s Einsenhower vowed to stamp out drugs and the 1970’s Nixon Drug Enforcement Agency was supposed to get a handle on the situation. If you haven’t caught on by now there is a pattern of failure. It is now 2011 and the so called “war on drugs” is one of the biggest problems facing America today. In order for the “war on drugs” to work I think the government needs to look at the situation as a whole and not just focus on the distribution and transporting of illegal drugs. Drug use has risen in American to around 19 million people. If we ever want to have a hope at stopping the distribution of drugs, we need to figure out a way to help the people who have become addicted. Honestly, selling drugs is a business and like any business it’s all about supply and demand. As long as there is a high demand for illegal substances, there will always be someone will to provide the product. Until the government can figure out how to either help those addicted to drugs or discourage drug use all together, I don’t see this problem going away any time soon.
ReplyDeleteI understand that we have spent a lot of money on the war against drugs. I believe that in some cases, the money has been well spent. Legalizing drugs may be a benefit, but I also agree with Bailey that “Not all drugs should be legalized”. The one drug that should be legalized is marijuana, due to the fact that marijuana, in my opinion is more of a mental addiction and I have yet to meet or see one person that committed a serious crime because marijuana (nothing added to it) impaired their judgment. If we legalize marijuana of course there will have to be some provisions, like it can only be used for medical purposes. Also, if we placed a tax on marijuana we might get back some of the money we pay to continuously fight the war on drugs. Once we realize that the war on drugs should be both a criminal and health issue, we might start winning this war, by working together.
ReplyDeleteI understand where people argue for legalizing certain drugs for medicinal use, because there are already heavy narcotics that are used to help with pain and such. But to say that all drugs should be legalized for all people seems awfully foolish. I don't understand how anybody can justify that the legalization of drugs will better our lives. There are already so many problems with DUI, and alcohol is legal. Imagine how many more fatalities will be witnessed if anyone can any drug whenever they want then hop in their car and drive off. This is not a solution to anything. I think that we should continue to fight the war against drugs because it's obviously a problem in our country. It may not seem like it's very effective, but the people who are fighting are still doing a lot for our country. Yes, there is a lot of drug crime still going on, but there has been so much crime stopped because of the work of those fighting against drugs. I think that they should continue and do whatever they can to help solve this problem. They may not see instant results and this may take a while to overcome this problem, but it is the right and moral thing to do.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, like that of most, the war on drugs is unwinnable. People who bring these drugs into our country are always a step ahead of our governement officials. Does that mean we should give up? Heck no! The fear of getting caught will eliminate some, getting caught caught will eliminate some, and some of these drug traffickers will eliminate some themselves. Legalizing Marijuana in my opinion is not a big deal. I have never heard of anyone "overdosing" on Marijuana. Someone may have thought that the person on Marijuana was dead, but he will probably wake up in an hour hungrier than heck. I have heard of people overdosing on Meth, cocaine and heroin though. These drugs all have to have something done to them whereas marijuana just grows in the ground. The government should put a tax on Marijuana, and make tons of money off of it. I think that would help our countries debt honestly. How do we stop people form growing their own plants? Well you make that illegal still and if you get caught, there should be an automatic sentence. Someone that uses Marijuana should be required to get it through a dispensary, and that is the only place where you can get marijuana.
ReplyDeleteThe war on drugs has always been a problem for the US government. I think the war on drugs will always be somewhat of a problem. It’s a billion dollar industry, cartels have numerous amounts of money invested into the distribution and making of various types of drugs. Putting an end to the drug war will not happen overnight, if ever. We can however put a kink in their methods and slow down the distribution into the US.
ReplyDeleteto me, to put an end to drugs is an unattainable goal. the making and selling of drugs will always exist and will always been a fast and easy way to make money. im not saying that its not illegal or not dangerous but there will always be those who are willing to take that chance. like some of the other posts, the best we can do is to slow the process down.
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing how much our morals have changed since 1973. Meaning that back then President Nixon claimed that every drug was harmful and should be taken bare of, but now in 2011 we have a lot of talk about legalizing marijuana for domestic income gains. The United States needs to realize that the “War on Drugs,” is an unattainable dream of a drug free nation. Quit spending all of our money, $2.5 trillion to be exact. That is way to much money to be spending on a subject like this, instead we should be using that money to pay back our debts. Also since the only thing this plan has brought is a higher incarceration that is more of our money going away to the government. We, meaning the United States government, needs to just chalk this “war” up as a lose and move on to another idea to keep Americans off of drugs, or just accept the fact that people do drugs.
ReplyDelete40 years of wrecking lives for one other reason than as a talking point in an election. That sums up this war on drugs better than anything else. Calling this police action a “War” was the stupidest thing our government has done. Wars are horrible things, wars cause nothing but pain and death, wars have lasting and horrible effects. So for this government and every piss poor media outlet to throw the term around pisses me off to no end. We need to end this losing “war’ and stop start calling it by it real name a blank check for the US government to take the people rights away under the guise of crime prevention.
ReplyDelete