The Flawed Drug Policy of America - 1691 Words

Americas Flawed Drug Policy Introduction: As a major policy issue in the United States, the War on Drugs has been one of the most monumental failures on modern record. At a cost of billions of taxpayer dollars, thousands of lives lost and many thousands of others ruined by untreated addiction or incarceration, Americas policy orientation concerning drug laws is due for reconsideration. Indeed, the very philosophical orientation of the War on Drugs and of the current drug policy in the United States has been one of prosecution and imprisonment rather than one of decriminalization, treatment and rehabilitation. As our medical and scientific communities characterize addiction as a disease, the United States government continues to characterize this disease as a crime. And in doing so, it has created an unnecessary criminal class in the United States. The research, supplemental political cartoons and proposed research will set out to prove that stiffer drug laws will only have the impact of criminalizing countless drug addicts who might otherwise benefit substantially from rehabilitation and other treatment-based strategies. With a specific focus on the prohibition of marijuana even for medical use, and using the Toulmin model for putting forth and completing the argument, the research will set out to demonstrate the irrational Claims: The discussion here will pursue the claim that we have experienced a major failure of the central philosophy of the War On Drugs. TheShow MoreRelatedThe Death Penalty Is Not Effective911 Words   |  4 Pages Criminals most likely do not sit around thinking, â€Å"I won’t commit this murder if I face the death penalty.† Therefore, the use of the death penalty does not help reduce crime, so why use it? People have been released from death rows throughout America due to the evidence of wrongful conviction. 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