I'm going to start off by saying that I do not think ANYTHING productive comes from drugs, I do not do drugs, and I do not think that drugs are a good option, ever. I have had experiences with family members and friends with drugs, and I have lots of reasons to say that drugs should never be legalized, but that is not my opinion for some reason. I am not even really FOR the legalization of drugs in any way, I'm more so on the side where I just don't quite care, because I don't do drugs, and I don't really have a PROBLEM with people who do drugs, so none of this would effect me. I don't care because I'm smart enough to know that if you don't want to do drugs, you don't have to do them, and if you don't want to be around people who do drugs, you don't have to. THIS LIFE IS YOURS. Anyways, the following is an essay we had to write for school, for or against the legalization of drugs, after reading two articles, "Drugs," by Gore Vidal, and "Don't Legalize Drugs," by Morton M. Kondracke.
Gore Vidal says, in his article, “Drugs,” that he think that drugs should be legalized and labeled properly, stating all the effects. Personally, I definitely agree with this idea, partially because I believe strongly in everyone’s ability to be able to do what they wish and face the consequences on their own. I think that what Vidal proposes is not so much a realistic idea, (which of course the whole topic of drug legalization is not so much realistic anyways) but I do feel that this would be the best way to go about the legalization of drugs, if ever decided.
Imagine the worst that could happen if drugs were legalized. If you think about it, we went through the same thing with alcohol. For a while, it was illegal and the number of users decreased, but when it was legalized again, everyone was drinking, and of course things got a little out of hand. Now think about the drinking problem now. It certainly has leveled out, hasn’t it? I think that the same thing would happen with drugs.
Right after legalization, things will get crazy, there’s no doubt about that. But that’s just what will make everyone else take it easy. As stated earlier, I think that the scenario would go somewhat like this: within the early stages of drug legalization the number of addicts and regular users would of course increase largely. A good amount of people would die from overdoses, and things would definitely get hard to handle. After experimenting and realizing which drugs do what, the proper dosages, how much you are effected, and what you are able to do and not do, I think people would tone it down a bit. I think one of the main reasons that drugs are such a popular thing right now is because they are illegal and America is so hooked on the idea of sin, as stated by Vidal, and people are also just born with a natural craving for things not within their reach.
I also would like to point out that the amount of daily drug users and addicts is highly underestimated, as I do not believe there is ever any correct way to gain proper statistics for this subject. If there are so many users of illegal drugs, what makes anyone think that legalizing them will make all that much of a difference? If people want to do them, they are going to do them: legal or not.
I cannot say that the legalization of drugs would be beneficial to our society whatsoever, but I do feel that there are a lot of issues because of the legalization of drugs. There are some drugs that can really mess you up. It’s like you took ecstasy and never came back. It is absolutely crazy to see how much certain drugs can mess a person up, having experience with a family member of mine.
But, either way, I think the least we could do is take a chance and try it; because the truth is nobody really knows for sure what would happen is drugs were legalized. Of course we all have our guesses, our estimations, our imagination, but when you really think about it, there would be absolutely no way to ever tell what would happen unless we were to try it out.
America, or really I would go as far as the whole world, should be about change. We should be about trying out new things and trying constantly to improve our world, and I’m not saying that the legalization of drugs would improve anything, but like I said, who knows. My main point is that change is not only necessary but good, and trying new things is always something wonderful, no matter what the outcome is. We will either learn that prohibition is just a set-in-stone thing, or that drugs could be legal without constant abuse. The best part is that this whole subject is just so out of reach, really, because everyone is far too scared to even get near the idea of legalizing drugs. Perhaps one day we shall see what the outcomes would truly be in a world where drugs are completely legal.
No comments:
Post a Comment