Drugs and legalization

Drugs and Legalization

        Since early on man has been interested in the consumption of substances

that altered the mind or ones feeling. The consumption of substances can be

broken down into legal and illegal substances. The question is, who are we to

label certain substances illegal and prohibit others from using them by

creating penalties for their use?

        If the importation, sale and use of drugs were legal, the open competition

would eliminate the profitability of drug dealing. Without the economic

incentive to commit violent crimes, the violence of drug dealing would be

dramatically reduced. In addition to the elimination of the economic incentive,

the health risk factor would help to reduce the role of the drug dealer. A

potential customer would probably choose to buy a market-tested product

from a pharmacy as opposed to buying a product of unknown dosage and quality

from a corner dealer.

        Without the advantage of large profits, the drug dealing profession would

lose its luster. A major problem is that teenagers see selling drugs as the only

way to make money. Minimum wage salaries can not compare to the huge

profits associated with dealing. In a drug community, the drug dealers are seen

as the center of the community. They become role models for the children,

replacing their parents. Eliminating the drug dealer will force these young

children into the reality that education is the way to make money, not selling

drugs.

        N.O.R.M.L (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws)

is a fully recognized organization that lobbies for the removal of criminal

penalties for the individual who uses marijuana in private. Since it is the

Americans right to privacy, personal choice, and individual freedom.

        Marijuana, in addition to not being a dangerous drug, has been

documented to have practical medical purposes and environmental...