War on Drugs

The war on drugs in the United States began in the Richard Nixon administration with the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914. Since then, more policies have been added to disrupt illegal distribution of drugs. Many more drug addicts are being caught. Just this year in the United States, 298,918 people were arrested for drug law offenses. That number comes at a great expense though. In 2003, the United States federal government spent over $19 billion dollars battling drug use. While the cost is high, I believe that drugs should not be legalized. Overuse of drugs can tear apart families and destroy lives. Legalizing drugs would just cause more issues for our country. We need to stop the illegal distribution of these drugs and help improve the quality of life. If drug trade remained illegal and the government could control its usage, our country would be much better off. The elimination of drugs would help keep families and towns together.

http://www.drugsense.org/wodclock.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs#History_of_drug_prohibition_in_the_U.S.