Drug Prohibition :: essays research papers

Drug ProhibitionThere be no panaceas for the worlds drug problems, and legalizingdrugs, un-clog the court system, and free prison space for actually criminals. comesas close as any single policy could. Removing legal penalties from theproduction, sale and use of "controlled substances" would not create a "heavenon Earth," but it would alleviate many of the nations social and politicalproblems. Legalization would reduce drug-related crime, save the U.S. billionsof dollars     In 1984, a kilogram of cocaine worth $4000 in Columbia sold at wholesalefor $30,000, and at retail in the U.S. for some $300,000. At the time, a DrugEnforcement validation spokesman noted that the wholesale price doubled insix months "due to crackdowns on producers and smugglers in Columbia and theU.S." The consequence of this drastic factory-to-retail escalation is a rise incrime. Addicts must pay hundreds of times the costs of their habit, and oftenturn to crime to finance their addiction. Also, those who deal in the sellingof the drugs become prime targets for assault for carrying super valuablegoods. The streets become battlegrounds for competing dealers because aparticular block or corner can rake in thousands of extra dollars a day. Shoulddrugs be legalized, the price would collapse, and so would the drug-relatedmotivations to commit crime. A pack of cocaine becomes no more dangerous tocarry than a pack of cigarettes. The streets would be safer to walk, ascriminal drug dealers are pushed from the market.     Legalization would also deflate prison overcrowding. Out of 31,346sentenced prisoners in federal institutions, drug law violators were the largestsingle category, 9487. By legalizing drugs, there would be no more drug transferenders to lock up. Since many drug users would no longer be committingviolent or property crimes to pay for their habits, there would be fewer realcriminals. This decrease in inmates would bring the overflowing federal prisonsystem down to its rated capacity. The excessive efforts now used against drugactivity and drug related-crimes by police would then be put to use moreeffectively for catching rapists, murderers, and the remaining criminals whocommit crimes against people and property.It takes a month to bring a person accused of a crime to trial. Itseven slower for civil proceedings. There simply isnt enough judges to handlethe ever-increasing caseload. By legalizing drugs, thousands of cases would bewiped off the courts permitting the rest to move faster. Prosecutors would havemore time to handle cases, and judges could make more considered decisions.Better decisions would lead to fewer grounds for appeals, reducing the ample