Because current policies aimed at limiting drug abuse do not work, we Essay

Because current policies aimed at limiting drug abuse do not work, we should legalize drugs and instead teach people to use them responsibly - Essay Example It has been suggested, and in some cases demonstrated, that legalizing or at least decriminalizing less harmful drugs, such as marijuana, can help to reduce the violence, significantly decrease the numbers of people incarcerated for drug use, allow more individuals to remain a contributing member of society and free up funds and manpower to combat against more harmful substances. It was believed by the economists that such a discussion would bring out the obvious factors that will lead to the legalization, regulation and taxation on marijuana, bringing out the benefits of each side and, at the least, justifies the reasons for maintaining the prohibition against the substance. This group of economists was also joined by Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman who argued that there is no logical basis for the prohibition against marijuana. (Friedman, 2005) The vast majority (85%) of America’s teenagers report that marijuana is easy to get every year, indicating that the sales have not been reduced by the laws and enforcement endeavors, leading many government officials to begin wondering whether we are simply throwing away billions of tax dollars to no effect. Over half of the prisoners in jail are there for drug ‘crimes.’ This causes overcrowding which results in the early release of dangerous, violent criminals. This creates more of a public safety problem than does drug use. It is illogical from a societal view and inhumane to individuals who are marked as a criminal for life for activity that causes no harm to others. Those who are addicted receive little or no therapeutic help in prison. Instead of imprisoning people that need help, rehabilitation programs are a much more effective method to treat the problem but a rehabilitation system will not succeed if drugs continue to be illegal.   Drug abusers will hardly seek help from the same government that tosses