Although
potential drawbacks are obvious, it would be in the best interest of
America for congress to pass legislation that would legalize
marijuana because currently, excessive government money is consumed
by largely ineffective control of this drug. This funding could be
more effectively put to use in other government programs. While many
argue that this sort of government policy would be harmful to
society, it is probable this legislation would benefit society.
Each year, the United States spends over 40 billion dollars on “the
drug war,” (Fact Sheet) much of this money is consumed by
efforts to eradicate marijuana production and distribution. This
amount of federal spending to control the use of a relatively
harmless drug is unacceptable.
Police in America are placed in communities to “protect and
serve” the residents living there. However, “nearly one
half of all police resources are devoted to stopping drug
trafficking” (Fact Sheet) instead of protecting the communities
they serve. America puts police officers in the line of fire in the
attempt to eradicate a victimless crime. Since marijuana is the most
widely used of the drugs that are now illegal, (Bonsor) legalizing
marijuana would not only allow police officers to spend more time
preventing crimes and protecting victims, but also drug control
officials would be able to use their funding to protect citizens from
drugs like PCP and Amphetamines, which have a direct correlation to
violent crime. (North Central Regional Educational Library) Drug czar
under the Clinton administration, General Barry McCaffrey said “drugs
must be approached like cancer. Treat the pain and try to kill the
disease at the roots. “ (Macko) Given this comment from the
most powerful drug control officer in the country at the time, it is
shocking that interdiction remains the main recipient of drug control
funding. McCaffrey has also been quoted as saying "It is clear
that we cannot arrest our way out of the problem of chronic drug
abuse and drug-driven crime."(Macko) General McCaffrey clearly
supports the idea of allocating less funds to interdiction, but
during his time in office this was virtually impossible because so
much of the budget was purloined by efforts to control marijuana. By
legalizing marijuana and reallocating the funding it currently
receives, we could finally follow General McCaffrey’s advice
and invest our money in programs where it could have an effect in
controlling drug abuse.
Unfortunately,
interdiction has been shown ineffective in preventing marijuana use.
However, what has been shown to be effective in the fight against all
drugs is treatment and prevention- the roots of the cancer, to use
McCaffrey’s words. Recent research has shown that drug
education in schools does not make a significant difference in
whether the student chooses to use drugs later in life; (Ray 446)
however, surveys have shown that people who are college graduates and
people who are employed are significantly less likely to purchase or
use drugs. (Survey) By legalizing marijuana, funding could be
redistributed to education and job training- particularly for grants
in areas determined “at-risk”. Happy, educated,
well-adjusted people do not use drugs. (Ray 15) Allowing all citizens
the opportunity to become active, productive participants in society
is the best anti-drug policy one could possibly conceive of. By
eliminating the public’s motivation to use drugs, American
could win the “drug war” without fighting on the front
lines.
There are those who argue that no social programs could make up for
the argument that the legalization of marijuana would encourage the
use of harder drugs. In the Netherlands this theory has proved false.
"The number of addicts in the Netherlands has been stable - at
25,000 - for many years.” (Ministry of Justice) Many believe
this stability is due to a policy in the Netherlands that would be
useful in the United States if marijuana were legalized. In the
Netherlands, Marijuana is purchased at coffee shops. Since these
coffee shops offer no possibilities for purchasing illicit drugs, the
government has achieved a separation of the soft drug market from the
hard drugs market - and a separation of the 'acceptable' drug user
from the 'unacceptable' drug user. (Abraham)
While few informed citizens would argue that there are no health
risks associated with using marijuana, the probability is that
Americans will eventually be given the opportunity to vote on a
government policy that would legalize this drug. Voters should be
aware of the benefits legalization could have on government social
aid and the programs that would be affected. Of course health risks
are inevitable; there are health risks associated with nearly every
action and every decision we make, and, arguably, there are products
on the market that are much more dangerous than marijuana. What the
American voter needs to carefully consider is that although the drug
control budget has increased by two thousand percent in the last
twenty years, (Fact Sheet) “illicit drugs are cheaper and purer
than they were two decades ago,” (Drug Data Summary). In the
interest of the social well being of America and the economic well
being of the American government, prohibition of marijuana should be
repealed and this newly legalized drug should be considered the
lesser of two evils.
Works Cited
Abraham, Manja D. The Netherlands and the United States. Drug
War Facts. 9 Dec. 2001. <http://www.drugwarfacts.org/thenethe.htm>.
Bonsor, Kevin. How Marijuana Works. Howstuffworks, Inc. 8 Dec.
2001. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/marijuana.htm>.
Correlation to Crime and Violence. North Central Regional
Educational Laboratory. 10 Dec. 2001.
<http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/drugfree/sa6lk2.htm>.
Fact Sheet: Economic Costs and Consequences of the Drug War
Linde-Smith Center Drug Policy Foundation 9 Dec. 2001.
<http://www.soros.org/lindesmith/
shadowconventions/econ2.html>.
Macko, Steve. General McCaffrey Leads the Battle Against Drugs.
21 April 1996. EmergencyNet NEWS Service. 9 Dec. 2001.
<http://www.emergency.com/
wardrugs.htm>.
Netherlands Ministry of Justice. Fact Sheet: Dutch Drugs Policy.
1999. Netherlands Institute of Mental Health and Addiction. 9 Dec.
2001. <http://www.minjust.nl:8080/
a_beleid/fact/cfact7.htm>.
Ray, Oakley. and Charles Ksir. Drugs, Society, and Human
Behavior. New York: WBC/McGraw-Hill, 1999.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. National
Household Survey on Drug Abuse. 1997. Department of Health &
Human Services. 9 Dec. 2001.
<http://www.samhsa.gov/oas/nhsda/1997Main/nhsda1997mfWeb-102.htm>.
United States. Drug Data Summary. Office of National Drug
Control Policy. April 1999.
