The Problems with Alcohol and Illegal Drugs Essay

Drugs have been a big part of our history dating back all the way to the 1800’s and beyond. We have to remember that drugs were first introduced as a form of early medication and its intent was to help cure things such as depression, headache, and used as a form of an anesthetic. The biggest downside of the medical drug evolution was the side effect of mass addiction. Although there was a problem with addiction the drugs still were very effective in helping cure many problems. Even with the addiction there were very few recorded problems with crime however. It wasn’t until they tried to put controls on the use of drugs that we began to see major criminal spikes in crime due to the trafficking of drugs illegally. America saw the same†¦show more content†¦are finding ways to do them anyways and I believe that financially it would help more to tax and control the sales more than it would to spend money stopping the biggest financial gain market out there. The legalization of drugs must be relooked at as an option and see if it will be viable cost effectiveness. The reason is because the war on crime has become so expensive for many reasons like the over population of the jails, tax payers money in order to support the people in jail and the rebuilding of additional jails in order to support the increase in crime due to the drugs being illegal. In an interview quoted form New York Times from Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders. â€Å"Yes it would. I said I didn’t know all the ramifications of the legalization on drugs, but I certainly felt that it should be studied. I said that anytime we are going to spend 22 billion dollars on fighting a war on drugs, putting police in the streets, building bigger better jails, we deserved to study what we need to do† ( Dreifus C. Joycelyn Elders. New York Times, January 30, 1994, p.19). These problems have arisen because of the mandatory minimal sentence law for drugs are the cause for overcrowding in the jail system. This law is pertinent to the overcrowding because although it varies from state to state the terms can generally beShow MoreRelatedLegal vs. Illegal Drugs1288 Words   |  6 PagesLegal or Illegal Drugs? Drugs are a common part of everyday life. In fact, it is highly likely that there are drugs of some sort in your cupboard. They are classified into two categories: legal and illegal. Legal drugs include alcohol, tobacco, and pharmaceutical drugs, while illegal drugs include marijuana, amphetamines and heroin. The media often portrays a biased, negative view on illegal drugs, however legal drugs often have the same effects as illegal drugs, if not worse. Illegal drugs canRead MoreDepressants Their Effects1002 Words   |  5 Pagesmore and more dependant on drugs, in particular, depressants. 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