In June 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a “war on drugs”. Many drugs, including marijuana became Schedule One Drugs, meaning that they have a high potential for abuse, and no accepted use for medical treatment. This was the beginning of 45 years of the government doing whatever they could to keep people from using drugs. Nixon implemented minimum sentences for even minor possession charges and other strict guidelines to help keep drug use to a minimum. However, as we have seen since then, the war on drugs has been far from effective. It has been extremely expensive and has done almost nothing to keep people from using drugs. Now it is time to relook at the issue of drugs and come up with a policy that actually makes sense. It is a very difficult topic, and one that is impossible to make everyone happy. However, looking at the facts, it is easy to see that something needs to be changed. Legalization and regulation of all drugs in the United States would be the best way to minimize harm. There are many reasons why legalization is the best solution. Economically, having a war on drugs just does not make sense. It is way too expensive for such little results. Also, the way that the war on drugs has affected minorities so much more than whites is disturbing. Another reason is freedom – America was founded to be the “land of the free” and keeping people from doing what they want in regards to drugs is just one way that our country is not living up to that saying. 

The first reason to legalize drugs is because of the United States’ history with trying to ban substances. In 1920, the production and distribution of alcohol was banned and most people would agree that is was a complete disaster. It is true that the rate of alcohol consumption did go down slightly during prohibition, but this is not the only important factor when looking to see if a policy is effective. For example, the number of people in prison skyrocketed during prohibition. In 1914, there were only about 4,000 federal convicts. However, by 1932, one year before prohibition was abolished, there were 26,589 – a 561 percent increase. Over two-thirds of all prisoners in the 1930’s were in prison for alcohol and drugs related offences. Additionally, the homicide rate increased during prohibition. Before alcohol was illegal, the homicide rate was about 6 per 100,000. Once prohibition began, there was a steady increase in the rate, until in 1933 it reached almost 10 per 100,000. Then, once prohibition ended, the rate steadily went back down to about where it was before the laws. If all drugs were made legal and regulated, there would be a similar decrease in homicide rate and all other violent crimes (Cato). With drugs legalized, the black market and violent cartels would have much less of a presence in the world, much like we saw with alcohol. Violent crimes in the drug world are almost always because of the illegal drug trade, not because of drug consumption. Legalizing and regulating drugs would make the United States a safer place, exactly like making alcohol legal again made it safer. 

Another reason to legalize and regulate drugs is to make drugs safer for people who were going to use them anyway. In a perfect world, most people would say that drug use of any kind is not ideal. However, that is just not realistic. People will always use drugs and the most responsible thing for the government to do is educate the public to the facts about all of the substances. The best way for drug use to be safer is to have regulations about how they are produced. This sounds like a weird idea, but it is the same thing that is being done with alcohol. The government admits that alcohol can be harmful, but they still allow companies to manufacture it under strict guidelines. The same thing should be in place for drugs. If people knew exactly what they were getting, the overdose rate would be much lower .The U.S government is infamous for giving out false information about drugs. False information is dangerous to the public because people will be unaware of the actual dangers of certain drugs if the government is always lying. People have the right to know the truth about these substances so they can make informed decisions about what to put into their body. 

Another major issue with the war on drugs is that it has always affected minorities worse than white people. Drugs were originally made illegal because minorities were using them and were not being as effective of workers for white people. While this was about 100 years ago, the racism relating to drugs is still as prevalent. Usage rates for marijuana among whites, blacks, and Hispanics is roughly equal. However, in 2010, the arrest rate for marijuana possession was over 3.5 times higher for blacks than whites. In fact, in the top 25 most populated cities in the United States, all of them arrest more blacks than whites in their respective cities. If you look at 18 to 25-year-old males in New York City, whites are more likely to use marijuana than blacks or Latinos. However, about 85% of arrests relating to marijuana are black and Latino (Butler). There is something seriously wrong with a system where there is supposed to be equality in the law, but somehow there is clearly not equality in how the law is being carried out. Most people can agree that laws should be applied equally to everyone, no matter the color of their skin. And while in theory that can be done for drug laws, it is clear that it is not working in America. There is still racism in the system that will continue as long as the United States keeps trying to enforce the drug laws. Legalization of drugs would get rid of the racism relating to drug laws because locking people up for simple possession would no longer be a problem. 

Arguably the best reason for drugs to be legalized is that it’s just an issue of freedom. People should have the right to do to their bodies what they want, as long as it doesn’t harm other people. A vast majority of drug use is done in a somewhat responsible, harmless way. The media sensationalizes drug use to make it seem much more harmful than it actually is. Surprisingly few people who try drugs actually end up becoming addicted, but that is not what the media wants you to think. Ad campaigns, like the meth project, who’s slogan is “meth, not even once,” make it seem like trying a drug once will automatically make the person addicted, when that is just not the case. Heroin has the highest rate of addiction, at 13% of people who try it will become addicted, which is still not a very high number. While many of these drugs are still harmful to the user and can potentially make their life more difficult, that should still be a choice that they make without the government telling them what to do. There are plenty of things that are legal that are still harmful to humans if they do not use them the right way. Junk food, for example, can be damaging to a person’s health and wellbeing if they do not use it responsibly and in moderation. Too much unhealthy food can be addictive and get in the way of a “better” way of living. However, most sensible people would agree that the government should not interfere and make junk food illegal. It is a choice that people have if they want. The same choice should be given to people who want to use drugs. As long as it is not directly hurting other people, there is no reason that the government should have a say in what a person can do to their own body.

Another benefit of legalizing drugs would be in increase in state tax revenue. As seen in Colorado, for example, there has been a huge amount of tax revenue that has come from legalizing marijuana. In 2016, only a few years after marijuana was legalized for recreational use, there were over $1.1 billion in sales. Not only is that a lot, but it is about a 30% increase from the previous year, meaning that the market is continuing to grow. Through October of 2016, Colorado already collected over $150 million in tax revenue (Fortune). This included about $50 million of a special excise tax that goes directly to helping to rebuild the Colorado public schools. In Colorado, the marijuana tax raised comes in at about 1.3% of the total state taxes for that year. While that does not seem like a huge amount of money, it does make a difference. It is enough to make some significant improvements to the schools, which really needed some work (9news). Legalizing all drugs would bring in even more state tax revenue which everyone can agree is a good thing. Legalizing something because of an increase in tax revenue is not a good reason by itself, but it’s just an added benefit when looking at all the other reasons that drugs should be legalized.

Because drugs are such a tricky topic, there will obviously be some good counter arguments to legalizing. The best counter argument is that some drugs are just bad for people’s health. Some people would argue that many people are not mature and smart enough to make good decisions for themselves, and that the government should step in and try to protect them from doing things they might regret later on. And while this is a fairly strong argument, it doesn’t look at the whole scope of the problem. In most cases, people who want to use drugs, will use them regardless of their legal status. Because of this, there is a very dangerous black market where it is extremely difficult to determine what product the person is actually buying. People get in to a lot of trouble when they think that are doing some drug when they are actually doing something completely different, or it is mixed with something even more harmful. MDMA is a good example of this. While pure MDMA is not a very dangerous substance, it can be fatal when mixed with other common drugs. Many times it is mixed with cocaine, bath salts, meth, or heroin. This poses a huge problem because it is so difficult for people to know what they are getting. If drugs were legal, people would just be able to go to a store and buy a controlled, government-approved substance. It sounds like a crazy idea but it is exactly the same thing that the United States did with alcohol. Alcohol is a drug, one that most experts would agree is one of the more dangerous substances. However, it is sold at restaurants, stores, and served at most events. During prohibition, there was a huge problem with people drinking unsafe alcohol. Many people died because of drinking something that was made in their friend’s basement with unclean tools. This is the same problem that is happening today with drugs. Drugs are so unsafe mostly because there is no standard for their quality and purity. This is something that could be fixed if they were legalized. 

Another argument for continuing the War on Drugs is that some people think that the war has been successful. While the U.S does lock up an absurd amount of people every year, the real problem is not being solved. Since the War on Drugs was started, the addiction rate has not changed. This is the thing that should be looked at, not the number of people who are using drugs responsibly. Despite the addiction rate remaining constant, the United States still locks up more people than in any other country. About 1.5 million people were arrested in 2015 for violating drug laws, and 84% of those were for simple drug possession. About 643,000 people were arrested for marijuana and 89% of those were just for possession. The biggest statistic, however, is that the U.S is spending more than $51 billion every year to fight the drug war. This is just something that our country cannot afford. If the war was working, maybe it would be worth the investment of that much money. However, it is money that is just being thrown away because nothing is changing. The money could be used much better elsewhere. The best thing that we could do with the money saved from the war on drugs would be to use it in treatment of people with drug problems. Drug addiction should be treated as a disease instead of a crime. Too many people are afraid to get help from an overdose because they are scared that they will get in trouble with the law. There is no reason that someone should die because they are too scared of the legal ramifications. 

The final, and best reason that drugs should be legalized is based on what we have already seen in countries with more laid back drug policies. In 2001, Portugal had the worst drug problem in all of Europe so the government knew they had to make changes. Instead of trying to crack down on drug use, they decriminalized drug use. People thought that it was a huge mistake and that the drug usage rate would skyrocket. However, this is not what happened. The results were actually very positive. Portugal went the European country with the highest rate of HIV to the country with the lowest. The addiction rate for heroin decreased because people were no longer scared to go get help. Portugal now spends 90% of their drug money to helping people and only 10% of it to catching big time drug dealers. Even though Portugal took a step in the right direction in decriminalizing drugs, they did not go quite far enough. Legalization would be better because it takes the risk out of people having to guess what they are actually getting. Only legalization would solve this problem because companies would have to manufacture products that would have to pass government approval. 

Legalization and regulation of all drugs is the best solution to the drug problem we have in America today. People have the right to make decisions on what to put into their body and the government should do everything they can to make that as safe as possible. Although there will never be a perfect solution to the drug issue, legalization and regulation is the right answer to this difficult subject. The main reason to legalize and regulate drugs is for harm reduction purposes. Of course there are tax benefits and economic benefits, but what matters above all is the health and safety of the United States citizens. While it may seem backwards that legalization would lead to better health, that is the way that it works. Drugs are not a price sensitive market: increasing prices will barely decrease demand. The ethical thing for the government to do is not to raise an iron fist and continue the same strict policies that have not been working for 45 years. Instead they should look for a real solution, something that actually will work. That is why legalizing and regulating drugs is an issue that needs to be looked into by the government and take action towards progress. 
