Decriminalization Vs. Prohibition

Decriminalization vs. Prohibition


     The idea of Drug Prohibition made sense: lower the availability of drugs

by the use of law enforcement.  Unfortunately, Drug Prohibition means heavy

costs while proving to be ineffective and counterproductive.

     I was thirteen when I saw drugs for the first time.  I was with some of

my friends that live down the road from me.  They asked me if I wanted to get

high with them.  At the time, I didn't know what getting high meant, so I asked

them.  One of them pulled ut a long slender object, similar to a cigarette, but

twisted on either end.  They told me it was something special.  I was still

bewildered.  They said "It's pot, you know, marijuana?"  Immediately I said no.

I had seen several anti-dug commercials, all with the same motto, "Just Say No".

I felt so good about myself.  I had done the right thing.  I said no to my

friends, which is a very hard decision to make at that age.  I was not going to

be one of those sad cases, where my life is wasted away.  I was not going to be

a crazed addict, who would stop at nothing to get a hit.  I was not going to be

dodging the law my whole life.  I was going to be everything I wanted to be, and

drugs were definitely not going to get in the way.  I promised myself I would

not end up like Jimi Hendrix, or Janis Joplin, both found dead after overdoses,

because I had the power to say no.  I had read stories and seen news flashes

about the side effects of some drugs.  I had read newspaper articles about

people in Rome, which is just a few minutes away, dying of heroin overdoses.  I

had seen people on TV that were alive, but were not conscious of their

surroundings, because of drug use.  Their lives were basically over.  I had

listened to speakers preach that drugs were one of the Devil's tools.  There was

no way I would even consider ever trying them, because once a person starts,

they can't stop.

     It was a few years later that I heard the other side of the story.  I

learned that not only were we losing the war on drugs, but that the war had been

corrupted.  The government was wasting money on something without a cause, or

hope.  It wasn't long after that when  I tried marijuana for the first time.  I

remember it well.  I was with my sister, who was the only person that I couldn't

say no to.  I took a hit.  Within fifteen minutes, I felt the most exquisite

feeling I had ever experienced.  I felt as though I was in a different world.

It was at this moment that I knew things would be different for me, but I was

still unsure about it, because I had heard of the dangers of drug use.  I

decided to do a little research.  I looked in health magazines, I looked in

Rolling Stone magazine, and I read some computer articles about the sixties.  I

also casually talked to several people who had experience with drugs.  It was

through this research that I found out some interesting facts.

     First was the mere cost of the war on drugs.  The federal government

spends billions of dollars a year on drug enforcement and billions more on drug-

related crimes and punishment.  The estimated cost to the United States for this

war on drugs is $200 billion a year, or $770 per person, according to statistics

posted by CNN, and that does not include the money spent by state and local

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