Going to public school all my life, i can honestly say that I've encountered illegal drugs a few times. I think most of the american population has, even with out knowing. They are everywhere. The "War on Drugs" didn't come about until the 1980's when Regan was in office. That meant more money, more time and more worry for something we already have laws for.
What I dont understand is why we're spending all this extra effort for something thats always going to be around? People are always going to want drugs. In a recent artical I read, "In 2008, President Bush signed the Mérida Initiative, which would provide $1.4 billion to Mexico and other countries over three years to help combat drug smuggling and violence." And do we still have people using, and killing for drugs? Yes, yes we do.
Why do we get to use alcohol at a certain age but people don't get to use drugs with similar regulations? Some people would say, it's because it's harmful to your body. I say, so is half the things we serve in fast food chains everyday. What does it matter to the government if I'm harming my body or not? Is it against the law to practically send millions of troops on a death mission to Iraq? I didn't think so.
People are going to want what they cant have. Theoretically if you legalized drugs it would get rid of this problem, right? No, I still believe that people are going to still want drugs. those people can still live separate lives if they want. I do believe however, that it would get rid of the "blood" that all drugs supposedly have on them, because since it's legal no one has to get killed for those drugs anymore. More lives (not only deaths, but livelihoods as well), time and, money would be saved if we worried less about "The War on Drugs" and more about issues that require immediate attention.
Fellow blogger Mia Delarosa brings up a good point on the war on drugs. She highlights the fact that people will always posses the want for drugs and that the "war" on it is more costly than helpful. I think she can go a step further and say that even if everything were legalized, not much would change. Or at least, not much should change. If, as a country, we are properly educating youth about drugs and their effects and what is acceptable use and what is not, then the illegality is no longer a factor and people can make decisions based on their own morals. The illegality of a substance only changes what happens after the person does it, not so much whether they will do it or not. In my opinion, we should focus more attention/money towards educating about drugs than we are enforcing the laws against drugs. You know, go after the root of the problem, not the effects of the problem.
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