Drug Legalization

Point 1: Legalizing drugs would lower the prison population and help the court system. "Of 31,346 sentenced prisoners in federal institutions, drug law violators were the largest single category, 9487.""Removing the 9487 drug inmates would leave 26,472. Of those, 7200 were in for assault, burglary, larceny-theft, or robbery. If the proportion of such crimes that is related to drugs is 40 percent, without drug laws another 2900 persons would never have made it to federal prison. The inmates who remained would be left in a less cruel, degrading environment. If we repealed the drug laws, we could eventually bring the prison population down comfortably below the prison's rated capacity."[1] The people who take the drugs are not really the criminals, they are the victims. If we removed these people from the prisons, we could be able to make room for people who belong in prison. "Since drug legalization would significantly dimish crime by the eliminatation of drug and drug-related crimes, the legislation would remove tens of thousands of cases from the court dockets across the continent, enabling the remaining cases to move sooner and faster. Prosecutors would have more time to handle each case; judges could return to real law and render more thoughtful and realistic opinions."[1] If we took away almost 25% of all court cases off of the curcuit, the court system could function more quickly and more efficiently because their would be fewer cases. Point 2: Legalizing drugs would save thousands of lives. "The considerable police efforts now expended against drug activity and drug-related crime (1/3 to 1/2 of resources) could be redirected toward protecting innocent people from those who would still commit crime in the absence of drug laws. The police could protect us more effectively, since police could focus resources on catching rapists, murderers and the remaining perpetrators of crimes against people and property."[1] If we legalized drugs, that would allow thousands of more cops to react to emergency situations that would protect more people. Also, there are cops's lives lost fighting the drug war and other people getting caught in the crossfire. "Prohibition creates violence because it drives the drug market underground. This means buyers and sellers cannot resolve their disputes with lawsuits, arbitration or advertising, so they resort to violence instead. Violence was common in the alcohol industry when it was banned during Prohibition, but not before or after."[2] Thousands die each year from the effects of getting drugs. If we legalized them, the black market would collapse and very few would ever be killed. Point 3: Drug gangs and cartels would be eliminated. "Legalizing drugs would eliminate this huge income source from under organized crime. Smugglers and pushers would have to go legitimate or go out of business. There simply wouldn't be enough other criminal endeavors to employ them all. Drug users would buy from reputable manufacturers at a much lower price. A user's habit could be supported with honest work because high drug prices would be eliminated. Drugs that kill and blind people would disappear. Users of legal drugs would have the right to their day in court, if a drug manufacturer is negligent. No such rights exist today."[1] Legalizing drugs would eliminate cartels, which would save additional lives both in Mexico and here. I will have more arguments later. I haven't had much time lately. Sources: [1]:http://www.bmstahoe.com... [2]:http://articles.cnn.com...