Drug Use in the US Should be Fully Legalized

Role of GovernmentI believe the first thing that should be addressed when discussing full legalization, is the role of the government. When the Declaration of Independence was drafted, it gave all human beings three unalienable rights - Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. These rights are based off of the social contract model by John Locke(1), where humans are free to pursue their own enlightenment, as long as it does not deny others of their natural rights. Therefore, it is not the role of the government to interfere with the quest of the individual to substantiate the value of his existence unless his actions directly endanger others. Government was established in order protect it's citizens from others - others who wish to infringe upon their right to life or property, not to protect it's citizens from themselves. The government has no right to tell citizens what to do with their own bodies. We are making criminals out of citizens who pose no threat to others. War on Drugs will not workBesides the fact that it violates the rights of American citizens, the War on Drugs has also been proven to be largely ineffective thus far, as was Prohibition when it was attempted in the 20th century. We learned during Prohibition that banning substances will not keep them out of the country and out of the hands of those who want them. In fact, alcohol consumption actually grew during Prohibition, and created new problems, such as drinking among children(2). Have we learned nothing from the "Noble Experiment"?So exactly how successful has the War on Drugs been thus far? According to a report by Douglas McVay, the US intercepts 10-15% of heroin per year. However, they would have to intercept 75% just to hurt profits(3). That is obviously not a realistic goal. The US is fighting a losing battle and wasting billions of dollars doing so. Trying to enforce a law which is unenforceable will only serve to increase public distrust in the government. Legalization can help fix many problems occurring in AmericaBy banning drugs, power is given to cartels who can now monopolize on the illegal trade. Because they can't rely on protection by the police force and judicial system, these cartels stoop to extreme violence in order to protect their income source. What could be legal, taxed competition now generates money solely for these dangerous groups, with no discretion between selling to children and adults, as there would be under a legal platform. According to a study done by the Cato Institute and Harvard University, ending the War on Drugs could generate $46.7 billion in tax revenue per year(4). There is a chance to help the economy, and we are completely ignoring it because the government wants to decide what's best for it's citizens, instead of letting the citizens decide for themselves. Instead, we should be taking a look at Portugal, who decriminalized drugs in 2001. Back then, they had the highest rate of HIV among injecting users. Now, new cases of HIV have fallen by 17%. Drug use by teens has fallen by 4%. And they have the lowest lifetime usage of marijuana in the European Union, at 10%(5). The reason this works is simple. By criminalizing drugs, you also criminalize treatment of drugs. People are afraid to get treatment for doing something illegal, and the negative stigma that comes along with being a "junkie" stops them from admitting they need help in the first place. Let's stop imprisoning people who aren't a danger to others. By criminalizing drugs, drug users aren't going to come out just to be put in jail. If coming out meant getting the help they needed instead of 10-20 years behind bars, we would see a much larger decline in drug usage. 1. http://www.iep.utm.edu... 2. http://druglibrary.org... 3. http://www.drugwarfacts.org... 4. http://www.cato.org...5. http://www.thefix.com...