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?There are seventy million people in America who have used marijuana, ten million

continue to use regularly? (Buckley 1). Marijuana is the third most popular drug in

America. It comes in only slightly behind nicotine and alcohol. ?However, it accounted

for 695,200 arrests in 1997? (Norml). So a physically non addictive substance which

does not cause its users to become violent is illegal. While two substances that are

addictive and can cause their users to become violent are legal. This doesn?t make sense.

As for the health problems associated with marijuana. ?The myth is that a single

marijuana cigarette equals sixteen cigarettes in terms of the amount of tar consumed.

This has been shown to be false. A more widely accepted estimate is that a marijuana

cigarette has about four times the tar of tobacco?(Norml). The dangers associated with

consuming tar can be lessened with the use of vaporizer smoking devices. It can be

completely eradicated through orally consuming the cannabis. Toxicity wise there has

never been a reported death of a person by marijuana alone. ?This is compared to

400,000 tobacco related deaths, and 100,000 alcohol related deaths, as of Jan 1997

?(Norml). ?Though it is harmful to drive a car or operate heavy machinery under the

influence of marijuana, numerous studies have been shown to find that it is not as harmful

as driving under the influence of alcohol?(Norml). ?Marijuana does not kill brain cells.

This widely believed notion was from one study involving three monkeys. The study has

never been duplicated again, and further studies with larger test populace has debunked

this myth? (Norml).

?A 1991 study found that there were 6,001 deaths due to illicit drugs? (Skolnick

1). However many of these deaths were a direct result of drug policies. The potency of

drugs varies widely between each batch. A heroin user becomes accustomed to using a

certain amount of heroin in order to get high. If a shipment of high quality heroin hits the

street, then that same user will use the same amount of drugs and invariably over dose. If

the drug was offered in a legal fashion, where quality would be equilateral, accidental

overdoses would happen with much less frequency.

One of the prices of the war on drugs is larger prisoner populations than ever

before. With nearly five in every 1,000 Americans behind bars on any given day, the

United States has the dubious distinction of incarcerating a higher percentage of its

citizens than any country in the world. Thanks in large part to the country’s war on

drugs, US prison and jail populations are 2-1/2 times larger than they were in 1980. That

growth has outpaced all attempts to house and care for the inmates. Each week the United

States must add nearly 1,000 prison beds for its rapidly growing inmate population.

?Prisoners incarcerated for drug offenses cost the American tax payers more than 315

million dollars a year?(Horowitz 6). ?New York spends 30,000 a year to keep a prisoner.

Even the most expensive in patient treatment programs cost no more than $20,000 a year.

The typical outpatient program costs no more than $3,600 a year?(Horowitz 4). The

numbers show that it is cheaper to treat people for drugs than it is to incarcerate them.

Drug laws target minority populations. ?Blacks and Hispanics make up

approximately 20% of the US population, they make up nearly 75% of the men and

women in jails and prisons for drug violations?(Skolnick 2). ?Five grams of crack

cocaine carries a mandatory minimum five year sentence. Whereas it takes more than a

pound of powdered cocaine to get a five year sentence? (Horowitz 7). Crack and

powdered cocaine are chemically the same. Crack is the cheaper version of this drug and

because of this it has flooded urban non-white areas of the country. Whereas cocaine is an

expensive drug that is normally used by white wealthy people. This is a direct attack on

minority populations. They can?t afford decent attorneys, therefore they invariably end

up in prison. Whereas rich white people usually don?t go to jail simply because they can

afford decent legal counsel.

Once the addicts are in prison they adopt a violent lifestyle in order to survive the

environment. They don?t always just go back to normal when they get out. So what you

have are legions of people addicted to drugs and angry at the same time, walking the

streets. Those two are not a good combination. ?According to a 1989 and 1990

American Jail Association survey, less than 20% of jails reported having drug treatment

programs involving paid staff and 75% provided no group therapy, drug education,

transition planning, or referral to community drug treatment agencies? (Skolnick 5).

What is the point of sending people to jail simply because they are addicted to a

substance? Furthermore why, once they are in jail would we not look towards

rehabilitation which is the supposed point of incarceration, instead of straight forward

punishment? Jail is not the answer for addicts, treatment is.

Politicians form their entire campaigns around the notion of getting tough on

crime. Quite often tougher drug laws fall into this category. This is shown by the

emergence of laws such as smoke a joint, lose your liscense, which exist in some areas of

the country. While even if the candidate had a change of heart, he would not be able to

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