...America is at war. We have been fighting drug abuse for almost a century. Four Presidents have personally waged war on drugs. Unfortunately, it is a war that we are losing. Drug abusers continue to fill our courts, hospitals, and prisons. The drug trade causes violent crime that ravages our neighborhoods. Children of drug abusers are neglected, abused, and even abandoned. The only beneficiaries of this war are organized crime members and drug dealers. The United States has been engaged in a “war” for nearly 25 years. A war in which there is a great deal of confusion as to why we are engaged in it, and if we are in the war for the right reasons. The resolution of the war is curtailed by varying opinions and subjective statistical proof. The war which has been a continuing struggle, is the “war on drugs” At the heart of this war is a fundamental question: Is this a battle the United States can win? It is likely everyone will agree drugs are harmful, they have serious medical side-effects. Drugs are addictive; can ruin a family, a job, a life. I agree that drugs have very negative side effects, but is the solution to fight a very costly and ineffective battle to eradicate drugs entirely? Is this even a possibility? I am not so sure, and this paper will show that the war on drugs has likely caused much more harm than good. Further, it will explain why not all drugs are the same, explore some options, and look at the future of the United States, and of the world ...
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...Problems of Drug Trafficking and Immigration in Mexico and United States Immigration and drug trafficking are a menace in the entire world. In dealing with issues concerning immigration and abuse of drugs, it is vital to note that these two phenomena go hand in hand. Drug trafficking refers to a worldwide unlawful trade that involves the crop growing, manufacturing, circulation and selling of substances that have issues with drug prevention regulations. On the other hand, immigration refers to the settling in a foreign nation state permanently. Drug traffickers deal with drugs such as cocaine, heroin, cannabis, and opiates. The illegal immigrants find it hard to survive in a new environment due to financial constraints. Hence, these immigrants engage in illegal activities for example abuse of drugs and substances. Similarly, they engage in entering into other countries illegal that is a crime activity too (Bankston). Due to poverty and poor governance in Mexico, it has led to the rapidly settling of individuals in the United States and Canada. This process of settling is normally illegal since it does not follow the right channels of attaining documents from the required authorities that allow a foreigner to live in their country. The illegal immigration in the Central America to the Northern continent has led to the development of a mechanism known as North American Free Trade Agreement. With it is acronym as NAFTA, enacted in 1994 by United States, Mexico, and Canada. The...
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...Mexico's Drug War There is a saying in Mexico that states “Mejor vivir como un rey por cinco años que vivir como laborador por cincuenta” which translates to “better to live as a king for five years than as an Ox for fifty.” This is particularly a famous saying between the poor youth because their opportunities are so limited they believe it is better to be part of the “narcos” and be a “narco king” for a short period than to live a long time as a laborer, worker, or slave. Consequently, throughout the years, drug cartels (the most famous being Sinaloa) have developed across Mexico with the intent of making money by selling drugs; this has caused many encounters with the law, corruption, and death. In addition, Fund for Peace (FFP), a research and educational institution, defines a failed state as a state or country whose politics, authority and economic system is weakened to the point that it is no longer in charge. Although this term has received criticism, it is a term given to define a state that has lost control over its territory, is unable to provide basic public services, and whose government is unlawful at time of making a decision consented by large groups. Mexico is currently under “warning” of becoming a failed state, primarily because of the strong roots that have grown within authorities and the government. It takes a stable country to help a failed state recover from its crisis; a prime example is the current relationship between Mexico and the U.S...
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...Why did Ludendorff plan failed? It is believed that Ludendorff and Hindenburg realized as early 8th august 1918 that victory was not possible for the Germans because of the America joining in the war Ludendorff wanted to defeat British and France before the Americans join in the war. The Russians pulled out the on 18th march because of the Russian revolution here are some examples of why did the plan failed. * 21 march The Germans brake trough the British defense at one point after six days .the Germans advanced forty miles .Ludendorff held Back those of his force that had advanced the farthest so that they would not run too far ahead of the rest of his offensive the rest of his offensive foundered as a result of Ludendorff having failed to deploy reserves with sufficient effectiveness. Nevertheless, the offensive great fight among the leaders of Britain and France. That’s how the plan failed and you can see that how close he was from being successful that he broke through the British and after that only one country left to defeat. * Germans were tired after they carry on fighting for six days they did have food to eat in these six days after the stop fighting they had a big party because they didn’t eat anything in six days so that night they ate and drink alcohol and some other kind of drugs. When they try to stat attacking again but they couldn’t because they couldn’t even get up of. That how the plan failed because the time they wasted in this party that British...
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...of the League (and why). the four main members of the league. Four strengths of the League. THREE weaknesses of the League. FOUR powers of the League. EIGHT parts of the League’s organisation. NINE successes of the League in the 1920s. FOUR failures of the League in the 1920s. TWO failures of the League in the 1930s – and their effect on the League. SEVEN reasons why the League failed in the 1930s [WAS DUMB]. You must do the following written work: A spidergram showing the main aims of the League. Written notes on the League’s powers. Written notes on the League’s organisation. An essay: ‘How strong was the League of Nations?’ Written notes on the work done by the League. Written notes on Manchuria, 1931 Written notes on Abyssinia, 1935 A 35-word ‘last word’ comment on the League. Written answers to 15 questions on the League. Have you read: Peter Moss, History Alive 4, page 29. T Rea and J Wright, International Relations, chapter 4. Christopher Culpin, Making History, chapter 11. J Traynor and I Dawson, The Struggle for Peace, chapter 5. N deMarco and R Radway, The Twentieth Century, pages 148–155. | | |Source A | |The League of Nations | |It is not enough just to win the | | | |war. We must win it in...
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...Importation of Drugs The War on Drugs has failed. If it were a business, it would have been shut down a long time ago. This is not what success looks like. The idea of eradicating drugs form the world by waging a war on those who use them is basically flawed. It does not reduce drug taking. The standard response is that we must continue on our course. Maybe if a few more people are arrested, or seize more shipments then the Government has achieved a victory. This is NOT true. It is like playing a game of Russian roulette. The government attacks one major supplier allowing for another to build up. The cycle is never ending. Where there is a demand there will always be a supply. We are not stopping drug supply because it moves. We could never get the resources to shut down the entire hemisphere. It is a simple as the law of supply and demand. No matter how many more billions of dollars are spent, or lives lost, history has proven that as long as there is a demand for drugs that there will be a supply for them. If alcoholism is supposed to be considered a public health issue then why is drug addiction considered a national security threat? The United States tends to declare war on things that it considers harmful or bad; for example the War on Cancer, The War on Drugs, War on Poverty, etc. Yes, you may be able to reduce poverty, prevent most terrorist attacks, cure many types of cancer, and even reduce crime rates but there is no clear end to any of these wars. The problem...
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...“Drugs" The United States is at war. I am not talking about the war in Iraq or the War on Terrorism; I am talking about the War on Drugs. We are currently facing a large debate on the issue of drugs. That is whether drugs should remain illegal or be legalized within the United States. It has come to be a war; a war which is being fought against our own citizens and against other countries. It is a war which has taken many lives and will not cease in its toll. Both sides of the argument have strong points. In 1970, Gore Vidal wrote an essay supporting the legalization of all illegal drugs in the United States. I agree with Vidal, in legalizing drugs. They should be legalized and regulated by the government just as cigarettes are. In “Drugs,” Gore Vidal argues that all drugs should be legalized. The government should make all drugs available in markets and sell that at cost to the consumers. He states that the prohibition of these drugs is a violation of the constitutional right for the pursuit of happiness. He observes that legalizing drugs will take away its title of being a "forbidden fruit." People always want what they cannot have. Legalizing drugs enable people easier access to them, taking away the thrill of getting them. He argues that the prohibition of drugs, like that of alcohol in the 1920's, will be a failure. He believes that both the Bureau of Narcotics and Mafia are against legalizing drugs and selling them at cost because then there would...
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...refined drug networks. Today, Mexico is the main provider of heroin to the U.S. market, and the major overseas dealer of methamphetamine and marijuana. Officials approximate that the drug trade makes up 3 to 4 percent of Mexico's $1.2 trillion annual GDP, making as much as $30 billion, and offers employment to about half a million people. Mexico's drug cartels have fought and at times made peace with each other over the years. . The biggest drug cartels in Mexico today include the Zetas, Sinaloa Cartel, Juárez Cartel, Tijuana Cartel, Beltran Leyva, and the Knights Templar. The Sinaloa, are older, more reputable organizations, while others, like the Knights Templar, have emerged more recently. (Council on Foreign Relations, 2014) http://www.cfr.org/mexico/mexicos-drug-war/p13689 The Mexican Drug War, began in December 2006, propelled by then-President Felipe Calderon, The war on drugs has been active for over eight years. The conflict between drug cartels as well as law enforced has had dire consequences on Mexico. Over 60,000 people have been murdered between 2006 and 2012, and the death toll rises every day. In early October, 43 Mexican students disappeared from Iguala, a town in Mexico. These students are yet to be found, investigators are confident that drug cartels were involved in their disappearance and freshly dug graves have been found. (Business insider, 2014) In 2008, the Sinaloa, the largest drug cartel in Mexico and the BLO broke their alliance and war between...
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...United States Drug Policy on Mexico and Colombia Drugs are not new to this Earth. Mankind has grown and consumed drugs for millennia. Marijuana, or more appropriately Cannabis, is indigenous to Central and South Asia, and has been consumed widely since 3000 B.C.E. (ElSohly 8). In more recent times (1938), Albert Hoffman synthesized Lysergic acid diethylamide, more commonly known as LSD, while searching for treatments for psychiatric diseases (Hoffman). Initially, many drugs were used in religious/spiritual functions. In several instances, the strong fibers of the Cannabis plant were used for building, much like jute, and the narcotic aspects of the plants were not even explored (ElSohly 8). However, today, drugs are frequently used recreationally, and as a result are highly profitable commodities. It is common knowledge that across the world, the vast majority of drugs are illegal or are restricted in some way. Almost nightly, proponents for the legalization of drugs, decriminalization of certain drugs, and the continued ban on drugs debate their positions through the media. This debate is a hot button issue that is almost entirely centered upon the views and policies of the world’s largest drug consumer, the United States of America (CIA Factbook). Governments and the media very often focus on drug consumption trends and drug flow into the United States, while largely ignoring Latin American perspectives and impacts on Latin America. Though drug production and drug use are major...
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...Anthony Soares Professor Minnis English 1A November 9, 2013 The Decriminalization of Drugs It goes without saying that America faces a drug addiction that is beyond anything we could have ever anticipated. It is reported that an estimated 22.5 million Americans suffer from a dependency from a drug of some sort, whether it may be stimulants, depressants or hallucinogens (NIDA 2). However these victims of addiction are often demonized for their condition and are treated as criminals by the infallible U.S. Government. As a result there is a trend of 1 in every 100 adults will end up incarcerated for a drug related offense such as possession (Drug Policy Alliance 1). So instead of treating addiction itself, many politicians decide that it is necessary to place these undesirables into prison in an effort to reform their ways. This trend of mass incarceration gained momentum in the early 70’s during the Nixon Administration with his “War on Drugs”, but in reality over the past 4 decades we have only seen the increase of drug addiction, overdose and any hardly any progress as a result. So where do we go from here? Well many liberals would whole-heartedly suggest that we legalize all controlled substances for recreational use, but that is a pipe dream reserved for a utopian society in a novel. Therefore I suggest a similar yet more conservative approach to this problem: the decriminalization of drugs. Instead of legalizing, which involves taxation and regulation of controlled substances;...
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...attitudes towards drugs begin to change, and the failure that is prohibition slowly dies, the populace is demanding a better drug policy from the state. The status quo of developed nations’ drug policies is prohibition, which has had minimal success to date. It continues to unfairly punish those who choose to use narcotics, and only harming themselves. In 2008, the United Nations estimated that globally, approximately 200 million people took illicit drugs at least once in the past year. The use of illicit drugs has proven to be nearly impossible to control, and the state would be better off allocating its drug enforcement resources to other sectors, such as drug treatment. Portugal portrays an accurate depiction of the effectiveness of a decriminalized state focusing on harm reduction. The state’s drug policy should be a total legalization of all drugs, with an emphasis on harm reduction, public health, and strict regulations. Prohibition has caused more harm than good for minorities and developing nations. For over a century, prohibition was believed to be the only effective method of controlling drug usage; this is no longer the case. Thus, the main objectives of prohibition are pointless to begin with. The current prohibition laws have created vast economic disparities for millions of minorities. The skewed enforcement of drug laws on minorities allows for discretionary arrest, making victimization is all too easy. Tougher drug laws are the reason why 29% of black American...
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...101 -070 The War on Drugs The “War on Drugs” is a term commonly applied to a campaign of prohibition, military aid and military intervention, with the intention of reducing and eliminating the illegal drug trade. The War on Drugs was officially declared in 1971 by President Richard Nixon and is still very prominent in our society today. The War on Drugs has been studied since its inception and copious amounts of data have been collected from it. The War on Drugs has a long history; since it has been enacted the government has utilized large sums of money funding it, made illicit drug use rise in percentage overall, and created an artificial and thriving black market. There is an ongoing debate on whether the War on Drugs is effective and organizations like the DPA (Drug Policy Alliance) are fighting to change it. However, the Obama administration is continuing the War on Drugs and has changed the name to the “National Drug Control Policy.” The first U.S law that restricted the distribution and use of certain drugs was the “Harrison Narcotics Tax Act” of 1914. This act regulated and taxed the production, importation, and distribution of opiates and Cocaine products. This Act pushed a more restrictive handling of certain drugs that would inevitably lead to the creation of more drug policies and the current drug war. On June 18th 1971, ongoing policies, laws, and counter culture built up and President Richard Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” stating that the drug problem in the...
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...The Mexican drug war is a threat to the United States. Mexican cartels are warring with one another for dominance over smuggling routes along the border. Bordering states are facing a ominous threat of being caught the cross hair of drug violence. Neither the United States nor Mexico authorities have been able to stop the bloodshed and prevent the import of illegal drugs. The outdated drug polices of the United States have failed to successfully stop the usage of illegal substances among its citizens. Mexico is precariously close to being completely paralyzed by the almighty cartels who threaten to create a permanent criminal state. The US government needs to reevaluate its current drug polices and current out dated solution. The United States will not win the drug war. Mexico is a current state of turmoil and bloodshed between authorities and drug cartels. There have been thousands of lives lost over turf battles and control over the lucrative drug routes along the border. The threat is eminent that its only time before blood shed spills over to American Soil. Mexican cartels have shown to be as ruthless as any terrorist organization that currently exists today. The illegal drug trade has turned one time peasants into multi-millionaires. For instance Joaquin “ El Chapo” Guzman leader of the Sinaloa Cartel made Fortune magazine billionaire list .Mexican drug cartels have used traditional business models to increase profits, distribution and supply consumers like a legitimate...
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...War on Drugs and Prison Overcrowding Thomas K Anderson University of Memphis Prison overcrowding has been a social phenomenon that has led to a variety of reforms. One of the major causes for overcrowding in the prison systems today began back in the early 1970’s, when President Nixon declared War on Drugs. There were dramatic increases in the prison population in the 1980’s and 1990’s. These increases were projected due to trends of harsh punishments. Political leaders were influential in these trends as they created mandatory sentencing guidelines. Currently 50.1% of all offenders that are incarcerated in the Federal Prison System are due to drug offenses. That total accounts for 98,554 individuals, many of whom are serving time for a nonviolent offense or first time offenses. The second largest cause for overcrowding in the prison are immigration related crimes, which still only accounts for 10.6% or 20,862 of the individuals. In June of 1971, President Nixon declared a war on drugs, which did not go over too well because he and everyone else had differing views on how to handle the problems being created due to the increase of drug use. Because of the increasing of the prison population, a reform was created to offer treatment for drug abuse; of course this did not take place since it was a contradiction of current drug policies. Unfortunately, the end result of Nixon’s plan did not stop the problem of drugs, but only caused...
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...Legalizing All Drugs DeVry University ENGL135 Advanced Composition June 7, 2011 Legalizing All Drugs Legalizing drugs has been a controversial topic to the American public. An issue such as this conjures up moral and religious beliefs, beliefs that differ from logical reasoning. Our government’s “War on Drugs” is being fought against her citizens, an effort to eliminate both drug distribution and usage. The government’s policies to eradicate drugs have failed only leaving a trail of political chaos and social unrest. Although the policy’s intentions are pure, it is causing undesirable effects that are rampant through society from the policies of prohibition: murder, corruption, assault, racial and economic marginalization, just a few examples of the effects fueled by the cold and inhuman policies of prohibition. The idea of prohibition is an old one and it is not practical to apply in our democratic government that is based on individual rights. The prohibition of alcohol during the roaring 20’s is the perfect example that proves prohibition is a failed policy that cost many people their lives. The legalization of all illegal drugs, will minimize if not eliminate violence related to drugs, will ensure safe regulation through the standards of pharmaceutical companies, and will save money in so many ways. Violence related to both the sale and use of drugs will minimize if not diminish if they are legalized. How are drugs and violence related? Drugs and violence...
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