America’s War on Drugs vs. Legalization Essay - 3396 Words

America’s War on Drugs vs. Legalization The United States has spent over 30 years fighting the war on drugs. Americans have paid a heavy price financially. The drug enforcement budget is now $40 billion. A lot of time, effort, and money go into America’s attempt in eliminating trafficking, dealing, and the use of illegal drugs. Many believe that this is a war worth fighting, while others feel that America will never conquer the war on drugs. The latter suggest legalization as an alternative plan that will help save the country millions of dollars. In this paper, I will examine the history of the drug war as well as the arguments for and against fighting the war on drugs. Illegal drug use in America dates back to the†¦show more content†¦They were given the drug without knowing what they were taking. In fact, addictions to morphine were largely due to lack of knowledge on the drug. The addiction was the result of accidental use and insufficient information on its effects. Drug addictions were increasing and something had to be done to help the situation. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was the single most effective law passed to help alleviate the effects of improper drug use. The Act accomplished three things: 1) It created the Food and Drug Administration in Washington that must approve all foods and drugs meant for human consumption. The very first impact of that was that the patent medicines were not approved for human consumption once they were tested. 2) The Pure Food and Drug Act said that certain drugs could only be sold on prescription. 3) The Pure Food and Drug Act requires that any drug that can be potentially habit- forming say so on its label. Warning -- May be habit forming. These three requirements on drug use and distribution greatly decreased the amount of people that formed accidental addictions. The Act continues to stand as the law that made the most impact on the drug addiction population. The fight against the use of drugs started a long time ago, but as the years went on America experienced a more intense battle with the widespread use of illegal drugs. There has been a steady increase in the number of people that use or have used drugs.Show MoreRelatedWhy Not Legalize Marijuana? Essay1173 Words   |  5 PagesMarijuana should be legalized for both recreational and medicinal use because the US economy can reap significant benefits from legalization as well as create an influx of jobs and also to reduce street and gang disputes relating to marijuana. Also, marijuana should be legalized because it has been dealt an unfair hand by society and is justifiably safer than most know it to be. 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