Legalizing Drugs
Legalizing Drugs:
Drugs Should Not Be Legalized
Tony Sahyoun
Notre Dame University – Louaize
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Legalizing Drugs
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Outline
Issue question: should drugs be legalized?
Thesis: although people say that legalizing drugs would bring lots of benefits on various levels
especially on the financial level, legalizing it would bring a lot more disadvantages to the society.
I.
Legalizing drugs will bring new users
a. Send wrong message to children and teenagers
b. Let all the people buy it
II.
Drugs bring and increase percentage of death
a. Drugs lead to physical effects and a range of diseases
b. Increase in the accidents due to drug intoxication
III.
Legalizing drugs may have advantages on the financial level for the government
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Legalizing drugs: Drugs Should Not Be Legalized
Did you know that, about 5.5 per cent of the population aged between fifteen and sixtyfour years have used drugs at least once in 2021 so it approximately 450,000,00 people who are
using drugs! And marijuana is now the most widely grown and consumed illegal substance
between these drugs according to the latest global estimates. For many years, severe regulations
reflect the fact that drug was a harmful narcotic that should be completely prohibited by the
government. However, considering the number of states which have decriminalized or legalized
marijuana in recent years, the societal and political attitude against drugs has eased. So, we can
conclude that it is a very debatable issue, and some people are with, and some are against. Over
the years, the idea about legalizing drugs has always been a discussion and especially in the past
2 years this issue has been brought many times in different countries, for example last year in
Lebanon they were talking about whether they should legalize weed and legalize planting it. So,
we got to understand and know what the cons and pros of legalizing drugs in the world and in
Lebanon because legalizing can affect us and our children and our grandparents in a negative way.
That is why I believe that we must prohibit drugs.
First, legalizing drugs will bring new users to it. For example, if there are some people who
will got intimidated for using drugs if drugs were prohibited and will not even try it. But on the
other side there’s people who will say “so what let’s try it” if drugs were in fact legalized and this
will lead them to get stuck and addicted to it and after that they will suffer all its consequences.
Moreover, legalizing drugs will send the wrong message to our children. As per Deji Elumoye
taken from a newspaper published by SyndiGate Media Inc” The NDLEA boss who also revealed
that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the construction of residential barracks for the
agency’s operatives in all the thirty-six states of the federation while campaign against drug abuse
was being taken to schools as kids now begin to use drugs from primary schools.” (Marwa Warns
N’Assembly Members against Legalising Cannabis, 2021). This and the drug in this country is not
legalized what if is it legalized? I am sure the numbers will be doubled and tripled. These numbers
are in Nigeria, what about the United States? According to Markowitz taken from the Vermont
Department of Health, Vermont has a very high rate of marijuana use among teenagers in the
reported period. Also, according to Markowitz taken from the 2015 Vermont Youth Risk Behavior
Survey, thirty-seven percent of Vermont students which age wage between 9 and 12 have ever
used marijuana, and almost 45 percent of high school students who have used marijuana in the
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reported year have done so more than ten times. Furthermore, more citizens of Vermont under the
age of eighteen seek substance misuse treatment for marijuana use than for all other illegal
substances and alcohol combined, according to the Vermont Substance Abuse Treatment
Information System. He added, As we all explore how to handle these high levels of usage, it is
vital to understand how legalizing drug in Vermont might worsen the problem. In Colorado's first
year of legalization, the percentage of twelve to seventeen year olds who reported consuming
marijuana in the reported period climbed by eight percent. Despite a legal age of twenty-one, the
amount of students in Colorado aged between 18 and 25 years old who smoked marijuana in the
reported period climbed from nineteen percent to over thirty percent. This evidence indicates that
legalization of drugs will send the wrong message to our teens and young adults and it will increase
the percentage of them using drugs. Another thing about drugs and especially marijuana and also
according to Markowitz that there is compelling data and research proving the detrimental
implications of young marijuana usage. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, regular
and extensive marijuana use by youths can result in an eight-point drop in IQ. Furthermore, regular
marijuana use in youth is associated with a decline in graduation rates, a rise in the chance of
taking other illegal substances, and suicide attempts. Marijuana usage has been linked to lower
short-term memory, focus, attention span, and problem-solving skills in adolescents, according to
research. Significantly, any degree of marijuana usage has been related to higher incidence of
psychosis in people who are predisposed to schizophrenia. (Markowitz, 2016)
Second, legalizing drugs will increase the percentage of death in the world. Drugs as we
all know have a lot of consequences on the mental problems like depression, anxiety, mood swings
and psychosis and some of these mental problems lead to suicide. It also led to health problems
like strokes, cancer, brain damages and a range a of deadly and extremely dangerous diseases
which also leads to death. According to Camps “Some research has suggested that those who use
marijuana are more prone to engaging in violent and property offending; as such, the increase in
the number of marijuana users because of legalization may lead to an increase in crime. Marijuana
retail shops may also incentivize crimes since they are vulnerable businesses that run on cash and
merchandise that is easy to use and appeal to many.” (Camps, 2021) in this argument Camps was
not sure of her information and she expressed uncertainty for example when she used “may,” I
suggest that she expresses certainty and use some evidence on her claim. Legalizing will bring
new users to it as mentioned before and they get addicted and will not get enough of it and
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eventually they will take overdose drugs and end up dying. According to the National Center for
Health Statistics (NCHS) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which gather
information involving many common drugs using CDC Wonder that “ Nearly 92,000 persons in
the U.S. died from drug-involved overdose in 2020, including illicit drugs and prescription
opioids.” And “drug overdose deaths rose from 2019 to 2020 with 91,799 drug overdose deaths
reported in 2020. Deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone (primarily fentanyl)
continued to rise with 56,516 overdose deaths reported in 2020. Those involving psychostimulants
with abuse potential (primarily methamphetamine) also continued to increase to 23,837”.
According to Gaunt Looking at it from the aspect of public health, this was tried. Between 2010
and 2015, the number of psychosis hospitalizations in Portugal more than tripled. Scotland itself
recorded a 74% spike in the same thing in January, as reported in the press. Cannabis should be
classified as a class A drug again, according to psychiatry professors. In the United States, we
know that every four minutes, someone is treated for drug psychosis. (Gaunt, 2022) also, regarding
the effects on the health and that leads to death Deji Elumoye said in a published newspaper by
SyndiGate Media Inc that cannabis also influences body organs and, at some point, can cause
death. So, although we applaud those who seek to legalize it for economic benefit, we must
exercise caution in reconciling it with life. (“Why Lawmakers Will Not Support Cannabis
Legalization – Marwa”) So, it comes down to money against life. And, as of now, science has not
developed to the point which can reduce the THC content of cannabis to zero. "As a result,
cannabis is damaging to human health and a threat to society." Its legalization must never be
permitted. (Marwa Warns N’Assembly Members against Legalising Cannabis, 2021)
There is a lot of people that say that legalizing it will return lots of benefits for the economy
and spar the money using on the police to stop and fight drug and that money will be used for
another things. First, as I said in the previous paragraph that if and only if it is true that if legalizing
it will bring benefits and it has consequences on the health level and it is the war between health
or money. For me it is obvious that I prefer health. Second, regarding these benefits, if we legalize
it than we have to tax (if we don’t it is a major problem) these drugs, and by taxing it gangs and
smugglers and guns and violence won’t stop and it won’t even reduce because these people want
to get the maximum benefit from this so they try to smuggle it and do not get taxed and so all the
police and money sparred by legalizing it will return to not let these smugglers get away without
paying tax and as we didn’t do anything. According to Deji Elumoye taken from a newspaper
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published by SyndiGate Media Inc that “we can never support legalization and I don’t see how the
National Assembly would pass the bill because I know 90 per cent or more of the Honorable and
Distinguished members of the National Assembly know the implications of this legislation and
they dare not go back to their constituencies if anyone signs legalization because we’re seeing the
implication on the ground.” He added as far as drug supply control initiatives are concerned. We
have recovered narcotics worth over one hundred billion Naira. Those funds have been transferred
to the CBN, and the real drugs have been forfeited to the courts for destruction." Since January,
we have imprisoned 1,630 people. These drug traffickers are heinous criminals and murders.
Within our NDLEA facilities, we have advised and rehabilitated four thousand people. (Marwa
Warns N’Assembly Members against Legalising Cannabis, 2021) and that proves that unlegalized
drugs also bring money and another thing that if drugs are legalized than the people addicted do
not seek rehabilitation and so they stay addicted all they life but if the police capture, they enforce
rehabilitation on prison and they will get cured from this drug just like what happened with the
4,000 people. Furthermore, according to Knowles one of UK'S HIGHEST Law Enforcement
officers has come out against drug legalization, claiming that it will not eliminate gang violence
or organized crime. Former Strathclyde Police inspector Jim Duffy has called for an end to the
"unwinnable" drug war, and a pass group of MPs has projected that cannabis will be legalized
within the next five to ten years. To gain money, criminals, according to Merseyside Chief
Constable Andy Cooke, would simply produce new, illegal, harder substances or strengthen their
group and human trafficking activities. "Legalizing drugs would not alleviate the problem of
individuals using other substances," he continued. It will not put an end to the bloodshed. This is
not going to prevent organized crime. "They will utilize any commodity to generate money and
are completely unconcerned about the effects on others." It might be anything from human
trafficking to drug smuggling. Although if we legalize drugs, individuals will continue to
manufacture medicines which are either harsher or have a different impact." (Knowles, 2019)
To conclude, legalizing drugs will have some awfully harmful effects on the human’s
physical health by increasing the percentage of death due to the range of diseases that drugs causes
and the accidents due to the intoxications of this drug. Also, it will bring new users and especially
children and teens which will endanger our future. Moreover, legalizing will not stop social
problems and will not contribute to any economic advance. So, as I mentioned in my introduction
that we must see and compare the pros and cons the cons are bigger, so I insist on not legalizing
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drugs in anywhere in the world. However, can we search and have a solution that will satisfy both
sides?
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References
Camps, C. (2021). Exploring the Impact of Legalization of Recreational Marijuana on
Adolescent Drug Use. Retrieved from
https://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=12099&context=theses
Marwa warns N’Assembly members against legalizing cannabis. (2021, Sep 04). This
Day Retrieved from https://www-proquest-com.neptune.ndu.edu.lb:9443/newspapers/marwawarns-n-assembly-members-against-legalising/docview/2569027034/se-2?accountid=28281
Gaunt, M. (2022, Jun 16). Crime tsar cautions against legalizing cannabis. The Yorkshire
Post Retrieved from https://www-proquest-com.neptune.ndu.edu.lb:9443/newspapers/crime-tsarcautions-against-legalising-cannabis/docview/2677602534/se-2?accountid=28281
Grigorian, A., Lester, E., Lekawa, M., Figueroa, C., Kuza, C. M., Dolich, M., . . . Nahmias, J.
(2019). Marijuana use and outcomes in adult and pediatric trauma patients after legalization in
california. The American Journal of Surgery, 218(6), 1189-1194. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2019.08.020
Knowles, M. (2019, Sep 12). Top police officer: Legalising drugs will not stop criminals [scot
region]. Daily Express Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/top-policemanlegalising-drugs-wont-stop/docview/2288535265/se-2
Overdose death rates (Jan 20, 2022) | National Institution On Drug Abuse (NIDA) retrieved from
https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates
Markowitz, M. (2016, Feb 25). How legalizing marijuana could affect children. The Burlington
Free Press Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/how-legalizing-marijuanacould-affect-children/docview/1767907979/se-2