“Prohibition... goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes... A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded.” (Lincoln) In 1840, President Abraham Lincoln announced this quote in a speech, illustrating the complete hypocrisy prohibition brings forward. Throughout history, prohibition has occurred and drastically failed each time. Today is no exception; just like prohibition of alcohol, the prohibition of mind altering drugs has done more harm than it has good. Some still believe that this prohibition prevents crime and drug use, but in reality it does the exact opposite. By making certain substances
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The United States only consists of about 5% of the world's total population, yet it contains around 25% of the world's prison population (BBC 1). Nearly half of all Americans in prison are there as a result of a drug offence (Federal Bureau of Prisons 1). A citizen is arrested every 19 seconds in America as result of a nonviolent, victimless, drug offence according to drugsence.org (1). The United States prison population has grown over 700% from 1970 to 2005, which is a direct outcome of the drug war. America, contains the world's largest prison population, which wastes hundreds of millions of tax dollars that go to the pointless arrest, trial, and incarceration of millions of drug users. It costs on average over $30,000 per inmate a year. While only costing a little over $10,000 to send a child to public school (Lam Thuy Vo 1). Billions of dollars get wasted each year in useless, counterproductive drug incarcerations, Though, time after time, it has been proven that treatment works and incarceration does not. For example: Since 1994, Switzerland's new approach at opiate addiction has had very positive results. The country aids addicts instead of criminalizing them. These clinics provide addicts with pure, clean chemicals and sanitary needles, to avoid overdoses from impure and dangerous drugs, as well as the spread of HIV and AIDS. Heroin users below the age of 35 have dropped from 78% in 1994 to 18% in 2011. …show more content…
With a thriving black market in place, billions and billions of dollars are put in the hands of outlaws each year. Organized crime and drug cartels have exploded in the past 45 years due to this enormous illegal drug market. This ridiculous amount of money allows gangs to fund other, more dangerous, illegal activities such as terrorism or human trafficking. These criminals only continue to gain more and more money and power. The outrageous amount of untaxed and unregulated income, has allowed drug lords such as Pablo Escobar to establish a drug empires. At his peak, Escobar was named the seventh richest man in the world by Forbes, with a net worth amounting to an astounding $30 billion dollars. Giving him the power to practically run the Colombian government with bribes and terrorism during the late 1980s and early 1990s. This black market enables gangs and cartels to support separate, much more dangerous crimes. South and Central America are infamous for their bad reputation with narco traffickers. These huge drug cartels are able to create empires from illegal trade. These gangs produce enough money to create a literal war in Central and South America, with more casualties than the Afghanistan and Iraq wars combine. There have been approximately 164,345 deaths in Mexico since 2007 according to PBS Frontline, resulting in some of the bloodiest cartel violence to date. “Plata o plomo”. The infamous
The United States only consists of about 5% of the world's total population, yet it contains around 25% of the world's prison population (BBC 1). Nearly half of all Americans in prison are there as a result of a drug offence (Federal Bureau of Prisons 1). A citizen is arrested every 19 seconds in America as result of a nonviolent, victimless, drug offence according to drugsence.org (1). The United States prison population has grown over 700% from 1970 to 2005, which is a direct outcome of the drug war. America, contains the world's largest prison population, which wastes hundreds of millions of tax dollars that go to the pointless arrest, trial, and incarceration of millions of drug users. It costs on average over $30,000 per inmate a year. While only costing a little over $10,000 to send a child to public school (Lam Thuy Vo 1). Billions of dollars get wasted each year in useless, counterproductive drug incarcerations, Though, time after time, it has been proven that treatment works and incarceration does not. For example: Since 1994, Switzerland's new approach at opiate addiction has had very positive results. The country aids addicts instead of criminalizing them. These clinics provide addicts with pure, clean chemicals and sanitary needles, to avoid overdoses from impure and dangerous drugs, as well as the spread of HIV and AIDS. Heroin users below the age of 35 have dropped from 78% in 1994 to 18% in 2011. …show more content…
With a thriving black market in place, billions and billions of dollars are put in the hands of outlaws each year. Organized crime and drug cartels have exploded in the past 45 years due to this enormous illegal drug market. This ridiculous amount of money allows gangs to fund other, more dangerous, illegal activities such as terrorism or human trafficking. These criminals only continue to gain more and more money and power. The outrageous amount of untaxed and unregulated income, has allowed drug lords such as Pablo Escobar to establish a drug empires. At his peak, Escobar was named the seventh richest man in the world by Forbes, with a net worth amounting to an astounding $30 billion dollars. Giving him the power to practically run the Colombian government with bribes and terrorism during the late 1980s and early 1990s. This black market enables gangs and cartels to support separate, much more dangerous crimes. South and Central America are infamous for their bad reputation with narco traffickers. These huge drug cartels are able to create empires from illegal trade. These gangs produce enough money to create a literal war in Central and South America, with more casualties than the Afghanistan and Iraq wars combine. There have been approximately 164,345 deaths in Mexico since 2007 according to PBS Frontline, resulting in some of the bloodiest cartel violence to date. “Plata o plomo”. The infamous