Recently, there appears to be a difficult debate on whether or not small amounts of drugs should be legalized. The state of Oregon already decriminalized small amounts of marijuana and other hard drugs, “taking a sledgehammer to the cornerstone of the drug war...While Oregon has taken a large step, a total of 15 states including the District of Columbia have legalized weed usage” says Kassandra Frederique, the executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. There have been many attempts to end the war on drugs and there appears to be no clear answer as to what would be best for the U.S. However, the question remains: could legalizing hard drugs possibly be the answer to end the war on drugs or could this create an even bigger problem?
According to the opinions of health officials and doctors, marijuana can have serious health effects on a person’s body. The short-term effects of marijuana, once smoked or ingested, can include lack of motivation, intense anxiety and panic attacks, impaired or reduced short-term memory, altered sense of time, dry mouth and throat, impaired judgement and perception, decreased reaction time, loss of coordination, and feelings of intoxication, according to UNC Campus Health. Some doctors have claimed that marijuana acts as a gateway drug, which means taking this drug may lead to the use of other addictive drugs. According to a study using longitudinal data from the National Epidemiological Study of Alcohol Use and Related Disorders, “adults who reported marijuana use during the first wave of the survey were more likely than adults who did not use marijuana to develop an alcohol use disorder within 3 years”. Also, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), “Approximately 1 in 10 people who use marijuana will become addicted. When they start before age 18, the rate of addiction rises to 1 in 6.” It also states that because of the increase in THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) in marijuana, this leads to higher rates of addiction and dependency.
Other opinions have proven antithetical, for according to the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS), “Drug legalization would benefit the United States in several ways: save Federal, State, and local governments billions of dollars a year; lead to reduced crime and safer neighborhoods; and enhance public health.” So far, the government spends about $100 billion per year on law enforcement and criminal justice programs and $35 billion on drug law enforcement. Legalizing marijuana could save $50 billion per year and possibly $150 billion by reducing the amount of resources spent on ineffective drug suppression activities according to the previous source. With the legalization of marijuana, this could lead to an increase in economic opportunity and the development of jobs under the law and it could limit the harming of young people and people of color, the Drug Policy Alliance claims.
Other countries outside of the U.S, such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and Portugal also legalized drug use and possession, seeing improvement in their own countries. No matter the resulting decision, consequences to both sides exist and if the U.S chooses to move forward with legalization, clear and enforced regulations should be outlined to ensure appropriate drug amounts have clear specifications, safe product guidelines and distribution, and overall quality of the drugs are closely monitored for optimal safety.
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