Vietnam War On Drugs

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The war on drugs has been going on since the 1970’s and has been largely unsuccessful. These policies have been in place since Vietnam era. Some say these policies were created to combat the hippie movement. These groups of people who were largely anti-war and anti-establishment in a time when the government needed support of the American people. They were also known for their heavy use of drugs. To reflect these change now prisons are overcrowded and thousands of deaths are still related to the use of drugs every year. People on both sides of the political spectrum argue what should be done to address this issue. In recent years drugs that were previously outlawed such as marijuana have been legalized. There is growing support in other States …show more content…
The money that is being used to house inmates that could be better spent on things such as education, research into climate change, and addressing the tax deficit. Instead these resources are being spent on housing inmates. Mark Engler, an author who researches and writes on political topics says, “The US prison population has more than quadrupled since the 1970s, owing largely to a failed ‘war on drugs’ and to mandatory sentencing requirements that eliminate judges’ ability to set \reasonable punishments.” (Engler 53) This a very big issue that goes back to the old saying “Does the punishment fit the crime,” and since the war on drugs that answer has been no. We are sending a large number of people to prison where their only crime is hurting themselves with the use of drugs. We would be better off helping these people address their addiction so that they may become productive members of our …show more content…
Portugal a smaller country in Western Europe has already done this. They have had a lot of success with this in some areas
“According to the US Drug Czar the claimed benefits of the policy of drugs decriminalization in Portugal have been exaggerated by those seeking to promote the policy drugs decriminalization when in reality a good deal more information is required on the impact of that policy within Portugal before any persuasive case can be made for the wider replication of the Portuguese policy.” (Pinto Coelho 4)
Doing the same in a country like the United States could be potentially harmful, especially when statistics regarding the process have been inflated or there isn’t enough information in general. Legalizing all drugs doesn’t address the problem directly and people will continue to die of drug overdoses. This is not the best option for us as a nation due to our size and cultural
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