America is at war

The United States of America is at war. Drugs have been the subject of much debate in the state as a result of the irreversible harm they have brought to individuals. The government has waged a war on drug addiction and consumption within the region. As a result, policies have been enacted to prevent the threat from spreading to future generations. The country’s economy is being harmed as a result of the country’s continued opioid use. This is because good individuals are adversely impacted and lose their opportunities. For a decade, the nation has been at the forefront of the fight against substance trafficking. Legislature has come up with laws to mitigate the consumption and bring the practice to an end. According to the laws of the land, it is illegal to trade in drugs such as cocaine. Anyone found in possession of it is sentenced since it is regarded as a criminal act.

The war against drug abuse has been taken to another level where serious measures are advanced to those who violate set laws. The government has used a lot of money to tame the act. Billions of money are spent yearly by the state to fight trading of drugs (Harrell and Ira 50). The efforts to eradicate supply of drugs have costed the country a lot of funds which could have been channeled to educating and teaching people on the need of staying away from drug abuse. Hospitals and jails are filled with drug abusers, who have left their children and wives with no help. A new society of broken families is created(Morgan 45). Enforcement of laws have been counterproductive. Irrespective of the amount of energy applied to come up with laws to avert the behavior, little has changed. Actually, trading of this drugs is still evident and serious measures should be taken to bring the cartels involved to a stop.

The war on drug in the United State has left more problems than it was anticipated. Direct and indirect consequences have been experienced by the people due to the impact of the government to deal with this criminal act. United State has been engaged in the drug war for nearly twenty five years. It has brought confusion on whether they are fighting a battle to win. One of the striking question is whether people will understand drugs are addictive? In the process to fight drugs, the main idea is people to understand that they are not good for health. The strategy which is employed by the government to fight it is questionable on effectiveness (Morgan 50). You find that laws are enforced without trying to consider the wellbeing of the dependents or even the victim.

Drugs can ruin marriages, jobs and even affects an individual’s health. This has been proofed statistically. It is estimated that a large number of youths in United State have been mentally affected by the abuse of drugs. Consequently, people have lost jobs due to regular absenteeism of failure to deliver which is associated with the effects of drugs. Well, all these have negative consequences in the society and country at large (Frydl 34). However, if we consider the amount which is laid to deal with this criminal act, it goes beyond imaginable levels. As it was alluded earlier, heavy budget is allocated to trace criminals who trade the drugs. It has brought more harm than benefits. United State spends more than $50 billion per years on war to eradicate the drugs in the country (Selden 65). For the past twenty five years, the country has been able to deal with 10% of the cases. Taking into consideration of this figure, it is evident that 90% has not yet been captured. This signifies a huge gap yet to be filled.

It would call for heavy investment for the state to work on all illegal cases of the drugs. This would drain the economy. The war has been described as a stage show since more trading of drugs is happening currently. The working class have been required to tighten their belt to support other legislations on drug war. This is through increased tax to create a pool of fund which would be used to support various agencies tasked with the job. Another complicating scenario is on what the government considers as illegal drugs (Wright 45). The selection has not been fair in determining what is not good for consumption. For example, alcohol has been classified by the World Health Organization to be causing more deaths in the world. It has been associated with liver diseases which kills both young and old people. Walking around the cities, one bumps on young people in drinking spree. There are no staunch measures to regulate consumption of alcohol as it is given to other drugs (Selden 34). With the increasing negative consequences of alcohol, probably the government could have shifted its effort to stretching its efforts to reduce its use.

Additionally, tobacco has been the first contributor to asthma and lung cancer. It is still under use and is not illegal. Comparing the deaths caused by Marijuana, which is illegal, with Tobacco, one would suggest bhang to be legalized. Little research has shown association of Marijuana with deaths. War against these drugs would be futile if other considerations are not looked at. Anything that causes harm to the health of individual should be controlled by the law. It makes no sense by prohibiting use of certain drugs and leaving others which are more harmful. In real sense, what the regulations consider illegal have less harm to human beings (Frydl 43).

The examples given are more succinct and elaborate on the weakness of current laws passed by legislation. The country is losing a lot of funds reaching the culprits, who spend their lives in cells. Additionally, family ties are lost as a result of this which brings disunity in the family Drug law enforcement has been given an upper hand compared to loans of students.

It leaves one with questions on the motive behind this. It is not clear why government is employing more effort on this sector and yet no significant results have been shown. It would be appreciable if the positive results are witnessed in this war (Harrell and Ira 34). We have recurrently heard about unending cases of drug lords in the country. It could be a suggestion of corruption in the states. Considering the country like Holland, drugs fall under jurisdiction of health, contrary to united Sate where it is enforced by the law. Health sector is able to advice people on the side effects and consequences of the drugs in a professional point of view. Enforcement of laws makes people to spend their time in cell, bringing more damage to their lives than the drug themselves (Wright 33).

The country is going wrong by targeting the users rather than the real source. Most of the people who are punished by law are the poor who spend few coins to buy the hard drugs. Behind the scene, the cartels responsible are either protected or goes unnoticed. This is where the relevant agencies go wrong. With such an approach, it is speculated that the possibility of this war ending soon if futile. If the source is not dealt with, then it beats logic on what the government is fighting. The battle is failure to adopt an alternative method to fight hard drugs in the country. If the same strategy is employed, there will be no significant changes even in the future (Selden 47).

It is social responsibility of the government to protect its citizens without harming them. Solution cannot be arrived at by deporting a huge number of people in cells with the notion of reducing trading of drugs. The very first thing which should be embraced is to have a well-designed plan which can be used to safeguard the victims as well as their dependents. Consequently, the sources of drugs should be identified. It has been shown that however much the people are put in cell, there is no change in usage of drugs. This indicate that the problem is not the user, but the seller. Moreover, educating the citizens on their health is core. There are some instances where laws cannot solve problems in the society (Wright 33). It is more effectual to come up with seminars to educate residence on some consequences of drug abuse. Approaching every addict and convincing them to avoid the drugs before invoking draconian laws which destroys them further is necessary. Psychological health is required for the victims to accept live somberly and healthy.

The number of prisoners arrested for drug abuse is increasing now and then. The number suggests that more needs to be done or change the way things are done. The amount of money employed to deal with the crime cannot be ignored (Selden 47). Essentially, the cost of living is increasing due to increased tax to finance the same process of curbing trading on drugs. The scenario is discouraging to the working class who feel the government is not responsible enough. Without a lasting solution to this, US will remain in vicious cycle of drugs, which has existed for some time.

Clearly major steps need to be taken to avoid further escalation of the problem. Right measures have to be taken by the government to avoid wastage which has been witnessed. As it was alluded in the prior paragraphs, billions of money have been wasted to fight drugs to no success. The rate at which the usage is increasing indicates the current laws are not efficient enough to curb the trend. Instead, it is bringing more suffer to the citizens who actually are not the major problems. Some of the problems which have been associated with drug war in the country can be felt. One, a half million people are put prison yearly due to cases of hard drugs. This translates to $10 billion in a year for sustenance (Harrell and Ira 45). This amount is used to construct new prisons and maintain the prisoners.

If this amount could have been directed to educating citizens on the need to refrain from drugs, it could bring more benefits than what is currently applied. Second, there has been erosion of civil rights. Properties belonging to persons suspected to trade in drugs are confiscated before he or she is found guilty. The existing law mandates the police to violate the privacy of any person found in drugs (Frydl 37). They do it by searching all places without considering ethical behavior. A solution has to be sought to have a well-informed society concerning these drugs. One strategy that can be employed successfully is appreciating the need of education. The government should employ funding in schools, where youths are taught risks associated with hard drugs. This should be done both in lower levels and higher levels.

Most of the people who are in drug trading are young people, who have sufficient time to network. It is eroding moral standards of the society. Curriculum should be designed to cover this topic. It will sensitize the young ones at early stages before wasting their lives. Second, United States can employ the plan taken by Holland. Holland has used the ministry of health to deal with cases of drugs. These are experts who understand every effect of drugs and they are right people to inform others (Selden 35).

The government uses laws which aims to harm the victims and ignores their health side. For the health ministry, they would first of all aim to protect the health of the individuals. This is a better move since less deaths will be witnessed. United State can incorporate both health department and law to tame this. We identified that the source of drugs is never reached at. This is the high time to interrogate the victims and use them to get the suppliers (Wright 33). They are a major risk in our economy since they benefit while killing the productive generation. The future is blink if the system continues the way it is.

The Country will lack competent labour to steer major projects. Taking notes of performance of other countries concerning fight against drugs can be embraced. Benchmarking is the best measure to evaluate the milestone taken by the state. Additionally, changing of laws is important. Laws which were used about ten years ago are the same used today. They have not produced any observable results in averting the problem. It remains the same with no change experienced. If the law is not helping the country, then there is need to champion for their change (Frydl 38).

Changing does not render them weak but instead, more elaborate laws are put in place. It is high time the government identifies the gap which is existing and bridge it by coming up with efficient laws. This would happen if the legislature is ready to protect the interest of the common citizen.

Conclusively, the war against drugs in the United State has not succeeded. It has brought more negative effects than helping the society. Inefficient law has been in place for so long and the concerned agencies have not shown any interest to its change. If a right strategy is employed, this drug trading could have been mitigated to lower levels than it is today. Other nations have been able to combat the business. Funding education of the citizens concerning drug abuse is one of the solutions which can have a positive impact.

Works Cited

Harrell, Adele, and Ira H. Cisin. Drug Abuse in Rural America. Rockville, Md: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration, 1981.

Morgan, Kathleen O. L, and Scott Morgan. Crime State Rankings 2006: Crime in the 50 United States. Lawrence, KS: Morgan Quitno Press, 2006. Internet resource. 

Frydl, Kathleen. The Drug Wars in America, 1940-1973. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

Selden, Mark. War and State Terrorism: The United States, Japan, and the Asia-Pacific in the Long Twentieth Century. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2004. Internet resource. 

Wright, Bradford W. Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.