Kristi King

Texas Wesleyan University

Intro Criminal Justice Fall 2011

American Meth

What do we do about the drug problem in the United States? I think you KNOW how I

feel about this issue... Two semesters ago, I took Paul Lilly’s Criminal and Forensic

Procedures class. Part of our final was to write about the gray areas of the law. In my

search on the Internet, The only thing I was able to come up with were links regarding

medical marijuana, and some videos on YouTube of Judge Jim Gray arguing for the

legalization of drugs. Coincidentally, around the same time, I had just watched a

documentary on The History Channel about drug prohibition, and I had just been told by

the Crowley police department that there was an issue with funding for DNA testing in

regards to my father’s 1989 homicide. After I watched those videos, I seriously started

thinking about all the money spent fighting the drug war in America, which led me to

Narcotics Intelligence and Coordination Unit (MNICU), which funds money to small cities,

including Crowley, for drug enforcement. I always thought it was bullshit how people

would go to jail for such silliness, but I did not give it too much thought until I felt like it

really effected me personally. I cannot BELIEVE they have money to investigate drug

offenses, but they do not have enough money to possibly bring my family and me closure.

This makes me soooooo incredibly mad! How does the government have a right to tell us

what we can and cannot put in our bodies? We are supposed to be a free country! Right?

Hell, they might as well make fast food illegal because more people die of heart disease

every year than drug overdoses. When I was 20, a man abducted my best friend, raped, and

sodomized her in a field while holding a knife to her throat. This was no date rape. This

was a complete stranger that did this to her. She is lucky to be alive. I am sure you know

where I am going with this…Statute of limitations should be extended, and subsequent DNA

testing needs to be done on cases like Christy’s, and my dads! The United States would

have the money to do this if they did not spend so much money fighting the war on drugs.

Those that use drugs are ultimately hurting no one physically but themselves by their use.

Yes, parents sometimes beat their children amongst other abuses, but this may have

nothing to do with the drugs. You do not have to be a drug addict or alcoholic to beat your

children. Most people do not quit using drugs because of the law. People quit because they

WANT TO QUIT. It does not matter if a user is facing forty years in prison. No one will

EVER be able to make someone stop if he or she is not ready! Never! Not me, not you, not

the best shrink in the world, and ESPECIALLY not the criminal justice system can make

someone stop. Yes, the state can make them stop by locking them up, but that is not the

answer! The answer lies within the person alone. The couple in the video did not decide to

get clean because of the law. They did it by their own choice. It is easy for people to judge

the two of them. I mean their kid was eating breakfast out of the garbage, but addiction is a

hard thing for some to overcome, but they did it! They deserve credit for that! Despite the

fact that they were not perfect parents, as no parent is, those children seemed to be loved.

They just didn’t love themselves enough to do what was best for their kids at that time. At

least they loved them to the best of their ability, which is more love than a foster home

would probably give them. Honestly, the children were lucky that authorities did not arrest

mom and dad! That would be the worst thing to those children in regards to their parents

using drugs. If that had been the case then, child protective services would snag those kids

up and put them into a foster home where things would be much worse. Ask damn near

any foster child. They'll tell you the same. They took the high road, which is much more

than I can say for many parents I know. My mother was the most humiliating drunk you

could ever imagine, and she still pulls the same shit today, but by God, if she wants to kill

herself drinking, then so be it! Who am I to judge? All I can do is love her for who she is,

and thank God, for the perfect mother he gave to me. I mean, she is the mother God chose

for me, and God is perfect… All I can do is pray for her. I cannot imagine if my mother had

to go to prison for her drinking. She would not belong there, but police officers, judges, and

district attorneys will put drug users away without hesitation! If eating popcorn out of the

garbage, and temporarily going without water was all I had to deal with growing up,

compared to my reality, it would have been a piece of cake! Do not get me wrong, my sister

and I never had to go without, and our parents loved us unconditionally, but the

humiliation we endured, I would trade immediately to eat ANYTHING out of the garbage.

Holland has already done the work for us. All we have to do is look at what happened when

they took the drug laws away. The use of drugs went up for a little bit, and then

significantly declined. They do not have NEARLY as much drug related crime as the United

States. People pretty much figured out on their own, that they could not function in

everyday life using drugs. If the government wants to keep drugs out of the hands of

children, THEN LEGALIZE IT! Not just, pot, but coke, speed, PCP, GHB, whatever! Then, the

government can do exactly what they did with alcohol and cigarettes. They can regulate

the sales, tax, and make distributors pay to inform children of the risks, not the

government. Whatever American did to get Americans to quit smoking, they can do the

same with drugs. I assure you, it is easier for a child to get drugs than it is for them to buy

beer. I know it was for me as a teen. Who do you think is going to ID first? The crack-head

selling rocks at the end of Beach and East First Street, or the person working at the Fina

around the corner. It is not rocket science! I suspect the choices not to end the war, have

little to do with America making profit, but more because of fear, pride, and the job loss

associated with legalization. Our prison systems are completely over crowded, and

students applying for federal grant money cannot have any drug convictions. This is

another classic case of America keeping the user down. How can they EVER recover if they

NEVER get a chance to improve?! If you rape, murder, or steal, you can still get college

grants. Whom would you rather have as a student? Oh, and the only reason there is

violence, and all the other bullshit that goes on with drugs, IS BECAUSE THEY ARE SO

EXPENSIVE… It is JUST like 1920’s prohibition. It is the same fucking thing! Take the

stigma away, and everything will change.