Paper Topic:

Proposal Argument

Ending the Drug Problem with Legalization

The war against drugs has been a constant and an ever-growing problem of the society . However , continuing the war against drugs may no longer be the most appropriate step since the battle has been futile and drugs remain prevalent in the society . Legalizing drugs would rather prove to be better recourse since it has worked for some countries that have tried it and it will provide a plethora of benefits

Most countries including the United States and the United Kingdom implement tough drug laws and treat

it as a criminal problem which only results in much criminalization . On the other hand , drugs are legal in Holland and they consider it as a social problem rather than as a criminal one . Even if the substance remains legal , there are still certain restrictions such as minors not being allowed to use drugs Also , it has been observed that the number of drug users have declined over the years as people who use drugs are dying and very few people are replacing them which reduces the number of drug users . Many people also expect that crime rate would increase after the legalization of drugs but crime rate remained almost unchanged . Comparatively , crime rate in Holland remained lower compared to the crime rate in the United Kingdom which implements tough drug laws (Rose

No evidence points to drugs being harmful which leads to a question why drugs remain illegal . According to Benson Roe , professor emeritus and former chair of the Cardiothoracic Surgery at the University of California , there is very little or no medical evidence which would prove that illegal drugs such as marijuana , cocaine and heroine are harmful to the health as long as it is consumed in correct quantities and is uncontaminated . This means that the illegal drugs , just like any other drug must be consumed in the proper dosage . Any drug , and not only illegal drugs , when taken in excessive amounts would prove harmful to the health . Roe narrated as he consulted the San Francisco coroner once to find if drugs cause death and the coroner reported that the only causes of death related to drugs is from the use of contaminated intravenous injections and very rare cases of overdose

Drug-related deaths in Wales and England in 2005 only proved to be a measly amount compared to deaths related to tobacco and alcohol . Deaths caused by tobacco amounted to 86 ,500 while deaths caused by alcohol amounted to 6 ,627 whereas the to only 2 ,705 and this includes over-the-counter and prescription drugs that are not categorized as illegal . Of this figure , a deaths were associated with heroine and morphine , 176 for cocaine and crack cocaine , and only 19 for cannabis . Another 220 was associated with methadone and 103 for amphetamines . In Scotland in 2006 , tobacco related deaths amounted to 11 ,300 while alcohol related deaths numbered to 2 ,052 , whereas heroine and morphine was associated with only 260 cocaine with 33 , ecstasy with 13...

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