War On Drugs

1195 Words5 Pages
The federal government has become increasingly involved in our lives. Constantly pushing for stricter measures it seems towards non violent crimes. Although seemingly in good intention, it is evident as usual that many of the politicians are out of touch and outdated with their methods of policing and incarcerating non violent crime offenders. It has never been a better time to work towards decriminalizing nonviolent crimes. Our current system is clearly broken, kids deserve second chances and how we are currently doing things could be considered unconstitutional various aspects. The war on drugs is largely considered by many, to be a failed attempt and lost cause. In fact, it is estimated that each year the United States federal government…show more content…
Nevertheless, Federal prison size has increased by more than four times since 1980, with 50 percent of the inmates incarcerated due to drug related crimes (Becker). The interesting anomaly of the matter is that by politicians continually pushing for stricter measures on drugs, they effectively create the perfect environment for drugs to be sold at substantially higher prices. Just like any job or task, the higher the risk or danger, the more money that will be involved. A prime example of this would be prohibition in the early 20th century. Becker shows in his article that prohibition was intended to help end domestic violence and other crimes yet it is undoubtedly the prime cause for the rise of gangs and crime. Now that alcohol was illegal, gangs and bootleggers could charge any price they desired. The stricter law enforcement got, the more gangs would charge to compensate for the higher risk involved. In essence the United states government has unquestionably helped fuel the pocket books of a vast array of drug lords. Also one provocative question to ask oneself is when is the drug war won? “It has been over 40 years since President Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs”(Becker). What progress have we really made? The fact of the matter is that no matter how…show more content…
In fact some of us have made some pretty moronic decisions. But the truth is, making these mistakes can be crucial to growing up. They allow us first hand to learn from our mistakes and become better people. Yet it only takes one serious blunder to fundamentally change our lives and the opportunities granted to us. We are often told in this society to be forgiving, to give second chances, yet our laws seem to disagree. Children who commit nonviolent crimes under the age of 18 are often stuck with legal labels the prohibit them from following their dreams or even often from getting a job. Something someone did 30 years ago can still be there haunting them. One bill to try and counteract this, put forward by Senators Rand Paul from Kentucky and Cory Booker from New Jersey called the Redeem Act, essentially gives minors who commit a nonviolent crime a second chance at life. Wiping their records clean once reaching the age of 18. Senator Paul even stated
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