Introduction to Communication - Perspective Report

Legalizing illicit drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and meth is a controversial topic that has sparked many a debate for decades. Since the 1970s, the government has tried to curb illegal drug use, distribution, and trade by increasing prison sentences for not only drug dealers, but for drug users as well. However, despite these efforts, drug use and drug-related crime still runs rampant. While many people see drug addicts as dangerous to society and prone to crime, treating the use and distribution of illicit drugs as criminal activity has affected our fellow citizens more than it is affected any actually illegal activity being committed under the influence of drugs. When it comes down to it, it is not drugs that are the problem, but the way we treat those who struggle with drug addiction. It should not be treated as a primarily legal issue, but as a health issue. Legalizing drugs would ultimately help reduce crime by taking power away from the drug cartels and gangs society fears so much; as well as free up the legal system and law enforcement to deal with more pressing cases; and allow for drug addicts to seek out proper help rather than end up in jail even if they never actually committed any crimes besides doing drugs. If drugs were to be legalized, it would take power away from the illegal drug market, including drug cartels and gangs, thus leading to less drug-related crime. The fact that there are many illegal drugs allows dealers to inflate their prices, and if there are any disputes, well – the parties involved cannot exactly go to the courts to resolve it. As a result, disputes often end up getting resolved violently, such as in a shootout. In fact, according to Husak (2006), violent crimes like the example mentioned beforehand, referred to as systemic crimes, make up 75% of drug-related crimes. Besides systemic crime, economic crimes – crimes committed for economic gain – are also connected to illicit drugs, which are often very expensive because they are illegal. The fact that drugs such as heroin, meth, and cocaine are illegal allows dealers to inflate their prices. This results in drug users resorting to stealing money or even turning to other illegal ventures such as prostitution to fund their addiction. Shenk (2001) mentions how some junkies paid anywhere from $200 to $600 dollars per week for drugs, with others stealing from other people or from liquor stores to get the money they needed. Shenk also makes note of a Bureau of Justice Statistics study which found that one out of every three thefts were for drug money. As it stands now, an exorbitant amount of money is being spent in the name of fighting against drug abuse and drug-related crime. The costs are not just in the thousands or millions, but in the billions. The government is spending a fair amount of time, effort, and money trying to stop drug abuse and drug-related crime to little avail, similarly to how in the 1920s, the Wilson administration tried to do the same with alcohol. However, the expenses for the Prohibition were much less than the expenses for the War on Drugs, with the Prohibition’s expenses in its first ten years only amounting to about $733 million in 1993 – a vast difference from what the War on Drugs cost during the Bush and Reagan administrations: $45 billion and $22 billion, respectively (Boaz, 1999). In addition, a graph compiled by Statista (2020) shows that from 2012 to 2021, the total money spent on federal drug control rose from $24 billion to nearly $36 billion. Clearly, the federal government is spending quite a lot of money trying to curb drug use, distribution, and trade. At this point, the total amount spent over the decades is likely too much to even count. However, this war on drugs does not just have legal and economic effects; it also has social effects. Because even simply using drugs is illegal, drug addicts are often preemptively labeled as criminals, even if they have not actually committed any crimes. The problem with drug use and drug-related crimes is not the drugs themselves – it is the people who do go and commit crimes, whether it be in the name of drugs or while under the influence. However, not everyone not everyone involved with drugs is a criminal. Most often, they are simply struggling with addiction. Drug use is often thought to have a direct relation to crime, but in reality “most ‘drug-related’ crime…is related to the dangerous underground economy created by the War on Drugs” (Geers, 1995). Also, since being arrested or imprisoned for drug-related charges counts as a felony, this bars many people from finding legitimate employment again once they are released, forcing them into other, often illegal, ventures (Drug Policy Alliance, 2006). There is also the fact that tobacco and alcohol are both known to have serious effects on one’s health for those who abuse either substance, yet people are not arrested simply for using them. In an interview of former police officer Jack Cole in 2006, Cole mentions that even though tobacco and alcohol combined kill over 500,000 people per year, neither substance is treated the way illicit drugs are, going on to criticize how said drugs only kill about 12,000 people per year, yet the federal government spent billions of dollars to “destroy the lives of 1.6 million people we arrest for non-violent drug violations every year.” While drug abuse and drug-related crime are obviously a problem, can we really justify spending billions upon billions of dollars on trying to fight it anymore? At this point, the War on Drugs only seems to be exacerbating the country’s issue with drugs, not helping it. Not only are our prisons overfilled and our law enforcement preoccupied with drug cases, but people’s lives also are being affected – and on top of all that, keeping drugs illegal is only giving more power to the drug cartels and drug gangs we fear so much. In the end, legalizing drugs might not be a catch-all solution to these problems, but it would certainly be a step towards mitigating them.