Legalizing Drugs
...hrough which product prices have risen drastically. Criminals usually set up black markets for illegal goods that are high in demand because “the opportunity for huge profits is obvious (Libertarian).” The major problem that arises from this is that some criminals are so dedicated to their illegal dealings that they will resort to “kill[ing] other drug dealers, along with innocent people caught in the crossfire, to protect their territory (Libertarian).” Legalizing drugs would eliminate the need for the competitive black market, and overall crime rates would decrease. The illegalization of drugs is bringing about numerous criminals, and these people are constantly being caught and put in prison. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons' 1985 Statistical Report, “of 31,346 sentenced prisoners in federal institutions, those imprisoned for drug law violations were the largest single category, 9,487 (Twelve Reasons).” Legalizing drugs would make these 9,487 people guilty of no crime, and they would be freed from jail, leaving 26,472 inmates remaining. Of these remaining inmates, a small percentage of the drug-related violence cases would never have reached federal court if not for the drug laws. The numbers are much higher today, as the drug market has gotten even more active over the years. Due to this increase, drug dealers are filling up spaces in prisons even more than before. Releasing these dealers would cause the prison population to drop, and more space for actual convicts would be available (Twelve Reasons). Legalizing drugs would not only lessen crime and increase jail space, but an overwhelming amount of tax dollars would be saved. According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, “the U.S. federal government [alone] spent 19.179 billion dollars in 2003 on the War on Drugs, at a rate of about 600 dollars per second (Greer).” This effort would have been worth that large sum of money if it had actually improved conditions in the United States, but it did not. This statistic concerns only the federal government—state and local governments spent another twenty billion dollars on the drug war (Greer). This money could be put to good use in some other area of law enforcement rather than being wasted on a war that will never be won. Unbelievable as it may seem, the use of tax dollars towards the drug war may not be the biggest problem at hand. Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a devastating epidemic that could be slowed if drugs were legalized. Intravenous (IV) drug users utilize needles to inject drugs such as heroin and other narcotic...