Kristi King

Texas Wesleyan University

Intro Criminal Justice Fall 2011

Blog Comment: Drug Prohibition

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.

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

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. 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 be sitting next to in class? Oh, and the only reason there is

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

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

stigma away, and everything will change.