konagirl420
Well-Known Member
Hahahahaha OK here it is sorry cannot find my peotry right this sec but I did find this hehehee Something I wrote I college!!!
The War on Drugs, is it really worth it?
The War on Drugs is a battle that has been going on for many years now. The United States government spends around $17 billion on the drug war annually. Right now, America could be saving $50 billion in taxpayer’s money each year; many believe the figure is actually much higher. (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n667/a01.html) In this speech I am going to discuss the history of drug laws, money spent on the prevention of drug offences and rehabilitation of drug offenders, the cost of human lives, and how this drug war can be compared to prohibition. I am then going to ask if this drug war is worth all of the money and resources we put into it.
The first American anti-drug law was an 1875 San Francisco ordinance, which made the smoking of opium in opium dens illegal. (http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca
/opiumlaw.html) This legislation was passed because of the fear that Chinese men were trying to "ruin" white women in the opium dens. "Ruin" was defined as associating with Chinese men. Other similar laws came after that, including Federal laws in which trafficking in opium was not allowed by anyone of Chinese origin, and restrictions on the importation of smoking opium. These laws did not have anything to do with the importation of opium as a drug, because the importation and use of opium in other forms were not affected. The laws were directed at smoking opium, because it was believed that the smoking of opium was a Chinese custom. In fewer words, it was a way of legally targeting the Chinese. (http://quickwired.com/kallahar/drugs/media.php)
In 1937 Mexican workers were coming across the border during the depression, marijuana was outlawed as a repressive measure against them.
(http://quickwired.com/kallahar/drugs/media.php) Harry J. Anslinger, Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner, testified before Congress on the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. In his testimony he stated "...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races." (http://www.heartbone.com/no_thugs/hja.htm) The American Medical Association was opposed to the law. The people who supported the law wanted their way so bad that when they were asked about the AMA’s stance in front of Congress, they lied and said the AMA supported the law. They knew that without the AMA support the law would not pass. The damage was already done though the law was passed, and even though the AMA protested the outcome the law was not repealed. (http://quickwired.com/kallahar/drugs/media.php)
At the turn of the century, both aspirin and heroin were legally available and sold for about the same amount. (http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/opi004.htm) Today a large bottle of aspirin can be purchased at any store for very little money; heroin costs about $50 to $200 per gram. (http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs4/4300/heroin.htm) The price of heroin drastically rose after it was made illegal due to dangers involved with its sales. Dealers are willing to kill each other over profits made from such a lucrative market; drug users are willing to rob and kill for money to support their habit. During prohibition "liquor store" owners killed each other to protect their territory just as drug dealers do today. Today, liquor is legal and the owners are mostly law-abiding citizens. Eliminating the huge profits involved with selling illegal items eliminates the motive for violent crime, and therefore the violent crime.
Now I am going to discuss what this War on Drugs is costing our country. American taxpayers are the ones paying for all of the non-violent drug offenders that are in our prisons systems. As I stated in my opening it is estimated that our government spends $17 billion a year fighting the drug war. However many drug-reform groups are saying the total cost is more around $50 billion or higher. (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n667/a01.html) Of this $17 billion about 61% goes to prohibition and criminal justice and 30% is spent on prevention programs and treatment. The price of this war is felt at state level. In California they have about 161,000 inmates, 46,655 of those inmates are serving time for drug offenses at the price of $1.1 billion a year. California’s Department of Corrections has budgeted $3.9 billion to pay for all of these inmates. On the national level of the 1.7 million people serving time, 22 to 33% are doing so for drug violations. This adds on about $7.8 billion to the annual cost of the War on Drugs. More money can be added to the price tag when we look at aid we give to foreign countries who help fight this war. We could reduce our police forces if there were no drug laws because it would eliminate a lot of the organized crimes that drug dealers are involved with trying to sell their drugs. (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n667/a01.html)
There are other costs to the drug war such as human lives. I thought that this story would be a good example of my own personal thoughts about the “war on drugs" and how insane and disorganized it is.
Here is the story:
Just recently, there was a small group of Baptist missionaries traveling back from South America from a mission trip. Kevin Donaldson the pilot of the plane, which was a Cessna model private jet, was a missionary himself. He was accompanied in the plane by James and Veronica Bowers their daughter Charity and their son Cory. While flying over the country of Peru, another jet, which happened to be an American CIA, jet spotted the Cessna. This particular group of missionaries had been doing this trip now for 13 years, and this particular plane that they fly on is an extremely familiar object in the air space over South America. The plane already had permission from flight control to land when the CIA plane spotted it and decided to report it to the Peruvian air force. Of course, they did this because the plane had a flight pattern unfamiliar to them, and they assumed it probably contained (gasp!)- DRUGS! The Peruvian air force fighters were called out to intercept the plane carrying the missionaries, and after a single pass, started shooting at the plane. Two high caliber bullets ripped through the jet. The first one instantly shattered the leg of the pilot, however, he amazingly managed to land the plane safely on the Amazon River near a small village. The second bullet, to the horror of the family, entered the back of the mother, killing her, and then proceeded out through the front of her chest before also entering into the head of her infant daughter who was sitting in her lap killing the child as well. (http://www.fff.org/freedom/0601a.asp) Two completely innocent lives lost, all due to the "war on drugs". This is a prime example of how "the war on drugs" actually creates more violence and tragedy than any good. We live in a day and age where scientific research, and overall experience has led all of humanity to the conclusion that drugs are addictive and they do indeed destroy lives. However, it is because of this knowledge that we now collectively share as humans that we more than know better than to ever even consider touching narcotics. It is like playing with fire. It is with this very notion that I feel little or no pity to someone who is senseless enough to allow him or herself to become addicted to drugs. We all have freewill. Furthermore, I think that if these people want to do their drugs and destroy their own lives-FINE! LET THEM! So long as we stop letting good, innocent people be slaughtered at the expense of some stupid drug laws. Think about it.
Today’s illegal drugs were legal before 1914. (http://www.theadvocates.org/library/issues-druglaws.html) Cocaine was even found in Coca-Cola's original recipe. America did not really have any problem with cocaine, opium, heroin or marijuana. Drugs were not expensive; crime was low. Most users could handle their drug of choice and lived normal, successful lives. Out of control addicts were a small minority. The first laws prohibiting drugs were racist in origin, to prevent Chinese laborers from using opium and to prevent blacks and Hispanics from using cocaine and marijuana. That is not just and not fair, just as it is unfair to make criminals out of peaceful drug users today. Americans have always and will always use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Most of them are not addicts; they are social drinkers or occasional users. If drugs were legalized they would be inexpensive, so even addicts could support their habits with honest work, rather than crime. If drugs were legal organized crime would drop; it would be deprived of its high profits. Then the police could concentrate on the real criminals and the violent offenders, and if drugs were legalized it would free up room in prisons for the people who should truly be there.
Did the government learn anything from Prohibition? In the 1920's, alcohol was made illegal by the Prohibition. This outlawing of alcohol resulted in Organized Crime. Criminals jumped at the chance to supply the demand for liquor. The streets became the criminals’ playground. The criminals bought off law enforcement and judges. The people believed their Civil Rights were stomped on in the hopeless attempt to keep people from drinking. When the American people saw that the Prohibition was depriving them their choice to drink or not to drink, they supported its repeal. When they succeeded, most states legalized liquor and the criminal gangs were out of the liquor business. Today's war on drugs is a re-run of Prohibition. Approximately 40 million Americans are occasional, peaceful users of some illegal drug who are no threat to anyone. They are not going to stop. I believe that the laws don't, and can't, stop drug use.
In conclusion the War on Drugs is expensive, it costs money, human lives, and it costs us our own freewill to decide what we do or do not put in our own bodies. It has been proven that things that are already legal like tobacco and alcohol are more dangerous than illegal drugs. America spends billions of dollars each year trying to fight drugs. The United States is not going to win the war on drugs if the government keeps using the same methods. It is time to re-legalize drugs and let people take responsibility for their own actions. It is a tragedy and a sickness to abuse drugs. Criminal laws only make the problem worse, and put money in criminals’ pockets. With drugs legal, more money could be spent on trying to help people who want help. Drugs should be legal. People have the right to decide what they put in their own bodies, as long as they take responsibility for their actions. Now that I have presented the information in this speech, it is time to ask yourself...The War on Drugs, is it really worth it?
The War on Drugs, is it really worth it?
The War on Drugs is a battle that has been going on for many years now. The United States government spends around $17 billion on the drug war annually. Right now, America could be saving $50 billion in taxpayer’s money each year; many believe the figure is actually much higher. (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n667/a01.html) In this speech I am going to discuss the history of drug laws, money spent on the prevention of drug offences and rehabilitation of drug offenders, the cost of human lives, and how this drug war can be compared to prohibition. I am then going to ask if this drug war is worth all of the money and resources we put into it.
The first American anti-drug law was an 1875 San Francisco ordinance, which made the smoking of opium in opium dens illegal. (http://www.drugsense.org/dpfca
/opiumlaw.html) This legislation was passed because of the fear that Chinese men were trying to "ruin" white women in the opium dens. "Ruin" was defined as associating with Chinese men. Other similar laws came after that, including Federal laws in which trafficking in opium was not allowed by anyone of Chinese origin, and restrictions on the importation of smoking opium. These laws did not have anything to do with the importation of opium as a drug, because the importation and use of opium in other forms were not affected. The laws were directed at smoking opium, because it was believed that the smoking of opium was a Chinese custom. In fewer words, it was a way of legally targeting the Chinese. (http://quickwired.com/kallahar/drugs/media.php)
In 1937 Mexican workers were coming across the border during the depression, marijuana was outlawed as a repressive measure against them.
(http://quickwired.com/kallahar/drugs/media.php) Harry J. Anslinger, Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner, testified before Congress on the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. In his testimony he stated "...the primary reason to outlaw marijuana is its effect on the degenerate races." (http://www.heartbone.com/no_thugs/hja.htm) The American Medical Association was opposed to the law. The people who supported the law wanted their way so bad that when they were asked about the AMA’s stance in front of Congress, they lied and said the AMA supported the law. They knew that without the AMA support the law would not pass. The damage was already done though the law was passed, and even though the AMA protested the outcome the law was not repealed. (http://quickwired.com/kallahar/drugs/media.php)
At the turn of the century, both aspirin and heroin were legally available and sold for about the same amount. (http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/opi004.htm) Today a large bottle of aspirin can be purchased at any store for very little money; heroin costs about $50 to $200 per gram. (http://www.usdoj.gov/ndic/pubs4/4300/heroin.htm) The price of heroin drastically rose after it was made illegal due to dangers involved with its sales. Dealers are willing to kill each other over profits made from such a lucrative market; drug users are willing to rob and kill for money to support their habit. During prohibition "liquor store" owners killed each other to protect their territory just as drug dealers do today. Today, liquor is legal and the owners are mostly law-abiding citizens. Eliminating the huge profits involved with selling illegal items eliminates the motive for violent crime, and therefore the violent crime.
Now I am going to discuss what this War on Drugs is costing our country. American taxpayers are the ones paying for all of the non-violent drug offenders that are in our prisons systems. As I stated in my opening it is estimated that our government spends $17 billion a year fighting the drug war. However many drug-reform groups are saying the total cost is more around $50 billion or higher. (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n667/a01.html) Of this $17 billion about 61% goes to prohibition and criminal justice and 30% is spent on prevention programs and treatment. The price of this war is felt at state level. In California they have about 161,000 inmates, 46,655 of those inmates are serving time for drug offenses at the price of $1.1 billion a year. California’s Department of Corrections has budgeted $3.9 billion to pay for all of these inmates. On the national level of the 1.7 million people serving time, 22 to 33% are doing so for drug violations. This adds on about $7.8 billion to the annual cost of the War on Drugs. More money can be added to the price tag when we look at aid we give to foreign countries who help fight this war. We could reduce our police forces if there were no drug laws because it would eliminate a lot of the organized crimes that drug dealers are involved with trying to sell their drugs. (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99/n667/a01.html)
There are other costs to the drug war such as human lives. I thought that this story would be a good example of my own personal thoughts about the “war on drugs" and how insane and disorganized it is.
Here is the story:
Just recently, there was a small group of Baptist missionaries traveling back from South America from a mission trip. Kevin Donaldson the pilot of the plane, which was a Cessna model private jet, was a missionary himself. He was accompanied in the plane by James and Veronica Bowers their daughter Charity and their son Cory. While flying over the country of Peru, another jet, which happened to be an American CIA, jet spotted the Cessna. This particular group of missionaries had been doing this trip now for 13 years, and this particular plane that they fly on is an extremely familiar object in the air space over South America. The plane already had permission from flight control to land when the CIA plane spotted it and decided to report it to the Peruvian air force. Of course, they did this because the plane had a flight pattern unfamiliar to them, and they assumed it probably contained (gasp!)- DRUGS! The Peruvian air force fighters were called out to intercept the plane carrying the missionaries, and after a single pass, started shooting at the plane. Two high caliber bullets ripped through the jet. The first one instantly shattered the leg of the pilot, however, he amazingly managed to land the plane safely on the Amazon River near a small village. The second bullet, to the horror of the family, entered the back of the mother, killing her, and then proceeded out through the front of her chest before also entering into the head of her infant daughter who was sitting in her lap killing the child as well. (http://www.fff.org/freedom/0601a.asp) Two completely innocent lives lost, all due to the "war on drugs". This is a prime example of how "the war on drugs" actually creates more violence and tragedy than any good. We live in a day and age where scientific research, and overall experience has led all of humanity to the conclusion that drugs are addictive and they do indeed destroy lives. However, it is because of this knowledge that we now collectively share as humans that we more than know better than to ever even consider touching narcotics. It is like playing with fire. It is with this very notion that I feel little or no pity to someone who is senseless enough to allow him or herself to become addicted to drugs. We all have freewill. Furthermore, I think that if these people want to do their drugs and destroy their own lives-FINE! LET THEM! So long as we stop letting good, innocent people be slaughtered at the expense of some stupid drug laws. Think about it.
Today’s illegal drugs were legal before 1914. (http://www.theadvocates.org/library/issues-druglaws.html) Cocaine was even found in Coca-Cola's original recipe. America did not really have any problem with cocaine, opium, heroin or marijuana. Drugs were not expensive; crime was low. Most users could handle their drug of choice and lived normal, successful lives. Out of control addicts were a small minority. The first laws prohibiting drugs were racist in origin, to prevent Chinese laborers from using opium and to prevent blacks and Hispanics from using cocaine and marijuana. That is not just and not fair, just as it is unfair to make criminals out of peaceful drug users today. Americans have always and will always use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Most of them are not addicts; they are social drinkers or occasional users. If drugs were legalized they would be inexpensive, so even addicts could support their habits with honest work, rather than crime. If drugs were legal organized crime would drop; it would be deprived of its high profits. Then the police could concentrate on the real criminals and the violent offenders, and if drugs were legalized it would free up room in prisons for the people who should truly be there.
Did the government learn anything from Prohibition? In the 1920's, alcohol was made illegal by the Prohibition. This outlawing of alcohol resulted in Organized Crime. Criminals jumped at the chance to supply the demand for liquor. The streets became the criminals’ playground. The criminals bought off law enforcement and judges. The people believed their Civil Rights were stomped on in the hopeless attempt to keep people from drinking. When the American people saw that the Prohibition was depriving them their choice to drink or not to drink, they supported its repeal. When they succeeded, most states legalized liquor and the criminal gangs were out of the liquor business. Today's war on drugs is a re-run of Prohibition. Approximately 40 million Americans are occasional, peaceful users of some illegal drug who are no threat to anyone. They are not going to stop. I believe that the laws don't, and can't, stop drug use.
In conclusion the War on Drugs is expensive, it costs money, human lives, and it costs us our own freewill to decide what we do or do not put in our own bodies. It has been proven that things that are already legal like tobacco and alcohol are more dangerous than illegal drugs. America spends billions of dollars each year trying to fight drugs. The United States is not going to win the war on drugs if the government keeps using the same methods. It is time to re-legalize drugs and let people take responsibility for their own actions. It is a tragedy and a sickness to abuse drugs. Criminal laws only make the problem worse, and put money in criminals’ pockets. With drugs legal, more money could be spent on trying to help people who want help. Drugs should be legal. People have the right to decide what they put in their own bodies, as long as they take responsibility for their actions. Now that I have presented the information in this speech, it is time to ask yourself...The War on Drugs, is it really worth it?
