Drugs haven’t always been around nor have drugs always been used for one’s personal use and getting high. In fact it wasn’t till about the 1600’s when Jamestown settlers started to cultivate marijuana and in the mid 1800’s people started using other drugs on the street (pbs.com). It didn’t take long for word to get out and for drugs to become popular for abuse. When I mean street drugs I’m talking about all illicit drugs which include marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines, heroin, LSD, and non-prescription pills. Ever since these drugs have been introduced they have declined the quality of human life for many local communities and societies around the world. It has caused a never ending drug war for governments to try and stop the illegal sales and abuse of drugs.
These drugs have torn many families apart and have caused death in the lives of many who use them. In 2001 according to the Nation Household Survey on Drug Abuse or NHSDA, it recorded that 29.6% of our youth aged 12-25 had used an illicit drug within the past 30 days. Also in 2001 NHSDA came up with the statistic that 41.7% of people 12 and older have used a drug ever in their life (whitehousedrugpolicy.org). That’s saying that almost half the population has tried an illicit drug in their lifetime.
According to Drugsense.org, “The U.S. federal government spent over $19 billion dollars in 2003 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about $600 per second”. State and local governments spent another $30 billion dollars on top of that for a total of almost $50 billion dollars. While billions are being spent on the war on drugs people are also dying because of it. In 2000 an estimated 17,000 people died from either direct or indirect use of illicit drugs (drugwarfacts.org). Although many are dying because of abuse many are still being arrested for containing these drugs. In 2007, 1,841,182 arrests were made from a drug law violation, that’s 13% of all arrests a high number based solely on drugs. That number is equivalent to someone getting arrested every 17 seconds (drugsense.org).
As you can see by the numbers drugs are a big problem for our government and communities. It requires a lot of money and man power to even fathom the drug war. People will always use drugs I don’t see an end to it any time soon. But any drugs off the street are better than no drugs. As hard as it seems there has to be a way to get to the people, maybe a revelation is indeed the answer. With all that has been said I want to end with a famous quote Lao-Tzu once believed, “The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be... Try to make people moral and you lay the groundwork for vice.”
References
"Frontline: Drug Wars: the Buyers: a Social History of America's Most Popular Drugs | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. 2010. Web. 14 Dec. 2010. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/buyers/socialhistory.html>.
"Annual Causes of Death in the United States | Drug War Facts." Welcome | Drug War Facts. 2008. Web. 14 Dec. 2010. <http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/30>.
Lloyd, Jennifer. "Drug Use Trends - Factsheet - Drug Facts." Office of National Drug Control Policy. 19 July 2006. Web. 14 Dec. 2010. <http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/factsht/druguse/>.
"Drug War Clock." DrugSense. Web. 14 Dec. 2010. <http://www.drugsense.org/cms/wodclock>.
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