Legalization of Drugs.

Reforming America's Drug Policies.

An extremely controversial question lingers among citizens and government officials of the United States today. Should drugs be legalized ? Is the "War on Drugs" working ? After thoroughly researching this topic and understanding each side of the argument, I can easily state that the War on Drugs is not working, and the United States government has taken the wrong approach on handling drugs in the United States. Although it may seem as a problematic solution to some Americans, the legalization (and regulation, of course) of drugs is the only way to solve the issues caused by the newly founded War on Drugs. Legalization will not only halt the wasteful, ineffective War on Drugs, but it will help the United States economy, and solve the over crowding problems in our jails and legal systems that are caused by this "war" that was begun for the nation's "public health"(Harris 1).

English: Elvis Presley meeting Richard Nixon. On D...

Drug Enforcement Administration special agents

Operation Mallorca, US Drug Enforcement Administra...

Despite the strong opposing arguments, many disagree with this opinion. Many people say the War on Drugs is working, and no benefits can result from legalizing drugs. Drugs are looked down upon, and some are known to be very dangerous, even lethal if abused. In addition, some say drug use rates would only increase if legalized, causing even more problems among our communities. Most people would assume drugs would be more readily available to our youth, and addicts would just be able to get the drugs they crave easier. It is easy to assume things such as this when hearing that legalization is the solution to our nation's drug problems, but these assumptions are indeed wrong.

When government and health officials in our country became aware of some of the problems certain drug users were going through, such as drug abuse, violence,