"In the 1920's, alcohol was made illegal by Prohibition. The result: Organized Crime. Criminals jumped at the chance to supply the demand for liquor. The streets became battlegrounds. The criminals bought off law enforcement and judges. Adulterated booze blinded and killed people. Civil rights were trampled in the hopeless attempt to keep people from drinking"(Schmoke 1). Sound familiar? It's very true when people say that history repeats itself. Now drugs, which are currently illegal, have raised the same problems as alcohol did when it was prohibited. However, it is safe to say that drugs have taken this country by force, and that it's effects on society are much more harsh than alcohol. It is also "probably safe to say that prohibition resulted in mor

e people drinking than ever before, including many children and many who were poisoned by bad booze" (Wayburn 1).

Whenever there is a demand for an illegal product, a black market always appears to supply the demand. The price of the product rises and opportunity knocks with huge profits for the dealer. This is where criminal gangs move in, making millions. "There is a growing number of people, in addition to the dealers, who profit from the multibillion-dollar industry created by the laws against drugs. The drug problem is not likely to disappear until the profit is removed" (Wayburn 4). "It's time to re-legalize drugs and let people take responsibility for themselves. Criminal laws only drive the problem underground and put money into the pockets of the criminal class. With drugs legal, compassionate people could do more to educate and rehabilitate drug users who seek help. Drugs should be legal. Individuals have the right to decide for themselves what to put in their bodies, so long as they take responsibility for their actions" (Schmoke 2). Drugs and its effects will always be around, but why should we spend money that produces very little effects such as with the drug war; instead, we should be making money and distributing that money towards a safer user environment, and more effective drug rehabilitation centers.

As for the so-called "junkies" that are thrown in jail, most of them are first time law offenders that have been caught with a small amount of drugs. Of course some of those 40 million peaceful users are going to get caught eventually, but what is the real crime? They are not looting stores, robbing houses, or mugging people on the street. Chances are that they got pulled over for speeding while they had a little marijuana or cocaine in their possession. As a result of all these little offenders that are made out to be full-blown criminals our prison systems are over flowing, but yet we still continue to pile people in them. "We should be filling them (prisons) with the people we built them for-the violent predator and repeat offenders. Not the guy who got caught with a few bucks worth of crack. The law currently has the identical 8 to 25 year maximum sentencing range, for a person who commits a forcible rape and for a person who sells a dollars worth of cocaine...I believe it would tell you that our legal sense of priorities is to

Some common words found in the essay are:
Crime Criminals, Declaration Independence, Worse America, drug users, drugs legal, criminal gangs, supply demand, laws drugs, message public, illicit drugs, drugs crime, peaceful users, declaration independence,
Approximate Word count = 1609
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)