Drug legalization in America

Drug legalization in America

Drug legalization

America is wasting precious resources, and throwing away potential income, as our economy plummets. The planned budget for drug prevention in 2009 is over 14 billion dollars just for agency funding alone(Office of National Drug Control Policy 11). This doesn't account for the money spent at the state level, or the money spent on incarcerating those convicted of drug charges. In these terrible economic times, the best option we have is to legalize recreational drugs, because it would cut billions in spending, create billions in tax revenue , and help society in the United States.
It's no secret that this country is in a lot of trouble financially. Our markets, along with those of countless other countries are free falling. Meanwhile, the government is spending absurd amounts to punish   us for putting substances in our bodies that they think are bad. According to an article in the Baltimore Sun which explained the findings of a Harvard study the US would “save roughly $44.1 billion per year in government expenditure on enforcement of drug laws.”(Rodricks) Forty-four Billion dollars every single year.   The prohibition of drugs was decided not by doctors or lawyers or judges or anybody who has experience with these substances, but by a bunch of politicians sitting in a room who decided that since drugs are bad, they would make them illegal. Then those same politicians would go home and have a drink or smoke, so obviously they know exactly what is bad and good for you. But in all seriousness, this is a ton of money going in to a futile punishment system, on the basis of congress not liking people on drugs. In fact, a study done by the National Institute of Justice showed that “Attempts to deter drug use through punishment fail because they do not address the complex causes of drug abuse, which begins within the context of family problems and peer deviant behavior.”(National Institute of Justice) So now not only are we spending nearly 50...