[Dion]

Why Legalizing Drugs is a Bad Idea

The Libertarian argument that we have the right to exercise sole dominion over our lives, except that “only actions that infringe on the rights of others can properly be termed crimes”, therefore, we should legalize drugs completely ignores all the unintended consequences. iii It is easy to say that a person should be able to shoot heroin or smoke a joint in his own home without Government interference. It is what the person does as a result of that use that should have all of us concerned. Also using the Libertarian argument, there is no legitimate reason to forbid children and teenagers from using drugs. They have the same rights as the rest of us, don't they? The legal use of alcohol and tobacco in this country is routinely proffered as examples for the legalization of drugs. The things that set alcohol and tobacco apart from these other drugs are their affects on us. Alcohol creates euphoria and is a depressant, but it takes awhile to become addicted from its use. Tobacco is quickly addictive, but there is no physiological or psychological effects from its use that prevent a person from safely functioning in society. How well has alcohol and tobacco worked out, however? The leading cause of death on our roads is by drunk drivers. Tobacco use has caused thousands of people to suffer with cancer. Why on earth would we want to legalize and in turn legitimize the use of more drugs in our society? The drugs we use now are bad enough.

The last argument to make is that police lost the drug war, therefore, let’s give up and legalize them. The police have not lost the drug war any more than they have lost their battle with any other crime. Crime has always existed. Illegal drugs are just another crime. What police do is keep crimes down to a tolerable level. The drug laws do the same thing. Most people will obey the laws most of the time. There are only a small percentage of people who actually engage in the majority of the crimes, including regular illegal drug use. We as police officers want to keep the population of drug abusers and addicts down to the lower percentages of society. We are doing a pretty good job of that. If society, however, chooses to legalize these drugs, the lid will blow off the pressure pot and the police will not be able to contain the consequences. That means, you, your family, your friends, your co-workers, everyone, will suffer sooner or later. Do not let this genie out of the bottle, keep these drugs illegal.

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