Drug Legalization Essay
Yulianna Santiago
9B
For years we have lived in a world of violence and crimes, and for years the solution of this problems has been right in front of us. Undeniably, drug legalization is the answer for the peaceful world we are looking for. This could benefit us in so many ways, so why are people against something that will provide them a better present and future?
Drugs have been one of the main reasons violence and crimes today are so extreme. In an October survey by Wharton Econometrics for the U.S customs service, "the 739 police chiefs responding blamed drugs for 1/5 of murders and rapes, 1/4 of car thefts, and 2/5 of robberies and assaults."(1987)
In a study of Detroit crime, Lester P. Silverman, found that a 10% increase in the price of heroin alone "produced and increase of 3.1% total property crimes in poor neighborhoods"(n.d). If drugs were legalized this rates would definitely decrease.
Because of drugs, police forces keep themselves busy trying to prevent their production and distribution. The considerable police efforts now expended against drug activity and drug-related crimes. 1/3 to 1/2 of resources could be redirected toward protecting innocent people. The police could protect us more effectively if drugs were legalized, since police forces could focus resources on catching rapists and murderers and the other remaining perpetrators of crimes against people and poverty.
Prison overcrowding is a huge problem that many penal institutions are suffering nowadays. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, "federal institutions hold 35,959 prisoners, 47% over the rated prison capacity of 25,638. State prisons were 114% of capacity."(1986). Of 31,346 sentenced prisoners in federal institutions, drug law violators were the largest single category (9,487). Legalizing drugs would immediately relieve the strain and burden on the prison system, since drug offenders would no longer be incarcelated.
Drugs