drug use in america and reasons it should not be legallized
... be killed than individuals from drug-free households. Drug abuse in the home renders a woman 28 times more likely to be killed by a close relative (Journal of the American Medical Association). More than half the crime in this country is committed by individuals under the influence of drugs. The majority of these crimes result from the effects of the drug, not from the fact that drugs are illegal. A study of drug-related homicides in New York found that 60 percent resulted from the psychopharmacological effects of illegal drugs ("Substance Abuse in Urban America: Its Impact on an American City," a Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse study). A survey of state child-welfare agencies identified substance abuse as one of the top two problems exhibited by 81 percent of families reported for child maltreatment. Researchers estimate that substance abuse is present in at least half of all child-abuse and neglect cases (National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse, DUF--Drug Use Forecasting, National Institute of Justice). Drugs themselves harm users. A significant percentage of users become addicted. Addiction is a brain disease that results from the introduction of foreign substances into the body which in turn change a person's neurochemistry. For four million chronically addicted Americans, drug use is not a choice; it has nothing to do with personal liberty. Sanctions on drug use, when combined with increased drug treatment resources, are the best hope many addicts have of regaining control of their lives. Compelling scientific evidence indicates that a large number of drug-dependent individuals will only complete treatment if forced to do so by the threat of criminal sanctions. A study of a Brooklyn forced-treatment program found that the percentage of offenders who stay in drug treatment is two to four times higher than for general residential treatment. Removing the threat of criminal sanctions eliminates the possibility of forced treatment, condemning addicts to miserable lives. Research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse shows that untreated opiate addicts die at a rate seven to eight times higher than similar patients in methadone-based treatment programs (Joe Loconte, "Killing Them Softly," Policy Review). Dr. James Curtis, director of addiction services at Harlem Hospital Center, explains: "It is false, misleading, and unethical to give addicts the idea that they can be intravenous drug abusers without suffering serious self-injury." Eighty-two percent of drug addicts die of causes other than AIDS, such as drug overdoses (Dr. G.W. Woody, New England Journal of Medicine). Intravenous drug users contract septicemia, wounds botulism, and other severe conditions resulting from their drug habits. An argument given for drug legalization by harm-reduction advocates is that the alleged "war" against drugs has been lost. This false line of reasoning ignores the fact that drug use in this country declined by half in the last two decades. The number of current users dropped from 25 million in 1979 to 13 million in 1996, while the number of current cocaine users plummeted from 5.7 million in 1985 to 1.75 million in 1998--a 69 percent decline. Nevertheless, the execution of drug-control policy can still be improved. The National Drug Control Strategy is implementing important changes. The strategy's No. 1 goal is prevention. In the past four years, the administration increased spending on prevention by 55 percent, and over the past five years the investment in treatment rose 26 percent. The strategy calls for more treatment in the criminal justice system as well as scientific research to break the cycle of drugs, addiction, and crime. (The federal government's National Institute on Drug Abuse conducts 85 percent of the world's research on addiction.) Fundamentally, the debate over drug legalization boils down to a question of risk. Studies show that the more a product is available and legitimized, the greater will be its use. If drug...