... To affect the drug war we must address its mythological content. Drug abuse unifies America. Drug abuse, however, is universally regarded as deviancy. Illicit drugs are considered immoral because they harm people, plenty of approved substances and activities have that drawback. Illicit drugs are immoral because users feel better than normal or even experience pleasure. The moral irony in anti-drug laws is that zealots ... crave them in order to eliminate distress such persons feel when they observe drug use. Both users and anti-drug crusaders want to avoid pain. But we have to tolerate ....

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• Grade Level: High School

... Network says, "The argument as that fear of prison drives addicts underground, and that incarceration is more expensive than treatment, so why not give drug addicts services instead? After careful consideration, Portugal changed the laws in regards to drugs. Users are now sent to counseling and often treatment instead of criminal courts and prisons. Since this reform the Portuguese has seen ... than a criminal offense. Portugal was the first to take a risk and change its perception on drug use. So what happens now? Time Magazine says, "Although there were small increase in illicit drug ...

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... few there has been an abuse of prescription drugs for nonmedical reasons. About 2.6 million people in the U.S. abuse prescription drugs. (Prescription Drug Abuse Rivals Illicit Drug Abuse, Some See Double Standard in Law Enforcement, Retrieved December 8, 2002 from http://www.ndsn.org/OCT96/PRESCRIP.html) In the ... Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. (National Drug Intelligence Center OxyContin Diversion and Abuse January 2001.) An assistant attorney general of West Virginia is suing the company for violating consumer state laws. "They were telling docto...

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• Grade Level: High School

... that trying marijuana will lead to using more potent and harmful drugs. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug used in the United States. If one thinks of this, it becomes very logical seeing it is the most popular illicit drug, that the first illegal drug most will encounter is marijuana. It turns out that most people who smoke marijuana have tried alcohol and ... 15 times more than drug treatment to achieve the same results in society. If we reduce spending by initiating more programs that accomplish the same result that their more expensive counterparts do, we can save billions o...

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... drug has also been used illegally by those suffering from AIDS, glaucoma, and cancer to alleviate their symptoms and to stimulate their appetites. Should marijuana be legalized as a medicine, or is it too addictive and dangerous? In California, Proposition 215 passed in the November 1996 ballot and a similar one was passed in Arizona. These initiatives convinced voters to relax current laws ... against marijuana use for medical and humane reasons. Opponents of these recent measures argue that marijuana use has been steadily rising among teenagers and that this may lead to experimentatio...

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... . The government has taken drastic measures to keep drugs out of our nations streets, from attacking the frontline in The Columbian drug fields, to making numerous drug busts in urban cities across the United States. However, these harsh but well- intentioned laws have been accused of infringing on America's freedom. Some believe the people have a natural right to use drugs if the ... pushers, increased customs and border patrols, outlawed synthetic drugs, and improved treatment and prevention programs. The illicit drug trade market is the second largest business in the world, bringing ...

• Word Count: 1121
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School