War On Drugs Research Paper

America’s war on drugs is not an issue that should only be addressed from a social standpoint, but also should be reviewed from the economic side. The drug war is not only unnecessary but also extremely costly. Eliminating this cost by legalizing some drugs would be finacially benificial for every taxpayer in the United States. According to CNN, nearly half a million of the incarcerated prisoners in the United States are put there because of drug charges. The average inmate cost the state $31,286 (CITATION) per year, that acquaintes to around $15.6 billion spent each year spent on housing alone. Legalization of recreational marijuana usewould substantially decrease that number, but drug legalization is not an economic issue in the eyes of most

The 60’s in america were times of policital dissent and social rebellion. No wonder in Richard Nixon’s second year he turned the american attention to a so called “war on drugs.” He stated “America's public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive” (NIXON). Since he has done so the United States has spent $1 trillion dollars fighting it. That is a very big expense looking at the actual social harm that nonviolent drug users cause to society. Nevertheless, opposition rose in the 70’s and 80’s. The steady rise in the 1980’s of public concern about drug use could because of the portrayl of a crack cocaine user presented by the american media. Not only did the concern for drug use go up, the incarceration rate also dramatically increased in the 80’s. “About 40,000 people were in U.S. jails and prisons for drug crimes in 1980, compared with more than 500,000 today” (CITATION). Thus, causeing the average american taxpayer to pay more each year just for the housing of inmates, that many were nonviolent crimes. 1989 marked the one of the highest points of opposition of marjiuana at 81% of americans wanting it to stay illegal (CITATION). Ever since then, marijuana tolerance has increased steadily over the past 3 decades. The 1990’s brought around a few advocates and organizations for

For example, “why spend so much money on an issue that could help the United States economy instead of hurting it?” Legalization of recreational mariuuana would eliminate many costs. An article done by Jeffery Miron, a Harvard economist, estimates that the government would save $7.7 billion per year solely on eliminating goverment expediture for enforcement. Not only would abolishing marijuana prohibition elimnate unneeded spending by each state, it also would bring large revenue through taxation. Colorado, Oregon, Alaska, and Washington have all legalized recreational marijuana in their state. “Washington's racked up more than $250 million in marijuana sales in the past year — roughly $62 million of which constitute marijuana excise taxes” (CITATION). Just as alcohol, marijuana will be taxed at a high rate. States will be able to choose a tax rate from 25 to 35 percent. If the tax rate increases any higher than that, legal marijuana will be too expensive and individuals will still buy marijuana on the black market.

One purpose of this policy is to reduce or elimnate the black market completely. Buying marijuana on the black market is not ideal for an average marijuana user because they do not know exactly what they are getting. Many cases around the United States have shown that people think they are smoking marijuana but are actually smoking