Drugs Should NOT be Legal :: Against Legalization of Drugs

Drugs Should NOT be Legal Everyone agrees that something must be done about the tremendous physical and emotional health problems that drug abuse causes. Concern about the abuse of drugs is so widespread that recent polls indicate it to be one of the most serious problems in today's world, threatening the security and freedom of whole nations. Politicians, health experts and much of the general public feel that no issue is more important than drug abuse. America's other pressing social problems- disease, poverty, child abuse and neglect, and corruption- often have a common element; that is drug abuse. The use of illegal drugs such as cocaine, crack, heroin and marijuana cause extensive harm to the body and brain. Yet, even after knowing this many people want illegal drugs to be legalized in every aspect. The last thing we need is a policy that makes widely available substances that impair memory, concentration and attention span; why in God's name foster the uses of drugs that make you stupid? The campaign for drug legalization is morally disgusting.The number of people who are addicted to illegal drugs or are users of these drugs is quite shocking. Drug abuse is clearly an injurious and sometimes fatal problem. The leaders of the international economic summit in Paris in July 1989 concluded that the devastating proportions of the drug problem calls for decisive action. On September 5, 1989, President Bush called upon the United States to join in an all-out fight against drugs. The United States Congress reports an estimated 25 to 30 million addicts of illegal drugs worldwide. Not all users are addicts, but some of the 26 million regular users of illegal drugs in the United States are addicted. Reports of child abuse to New York social services tripled between 1986 and 1988 and most of the cases involved drug abuse. Approximately 35 percent of the inmates of state prison were under the influence of illegal drugs at the time they committed the crimes for which they are incarcerated. In some parts of the country, that percentage is as high as 75 to 80! Another fact that hits people hard is that out-right deaths from illegal drugs have quadrupled in the last ten years! The proportion of 19 to 22 year olds who were at risk from using illegal drugs rose from 44 percent in 1980 to 69 percent in 1987. Among 17-18 year olds the shift over the same interval was from 50 percent to 74 percent (Williams 226)! The abuse of illegal drugs is very threatening to America's future. These drugs are the cause of many problems and crimes.