Why "Illicit" Drugs Should Be Legal from Someone Who IS NOT an Addict

I believe that "illicit" drugs should be made legal. Whether you believe me, or not, I am not an addict. I do not drink because my father believed that getting drunk was more important than raising me. I have hay-fever like allergies, so I do not smoke cigarettes or marijuana; even the second-hand smoke sends me into a sneezing fit. I don't even use what I call "injectables", like cocaine and heroin, because I hate needles. I don't use drugs that come in pill form, like ecstasy and LSD, because I don't even like taking aspirin for a headache. Besides, I'm poor. I can't afford to be an addict. I'll explain why I believe this.

First off, I believe that people should have the right to do with, and to, their body whatever they want. The fact that I can't buy some marijuana, go home, get high, and spend a few hours eating cheese doodles while laughing like a little school girl at spoongebob squarepants is ridiculous. What I also find ridiculous is the drug schedules set by our government. I'll explain. There are five schedules. A few of the drugs on the schedules are narcotics, some aren't. Some are available by prescription, and some aren't. Schedule five drugs are the least dangerous. Some examples of schedule five drugs are Robitussin AC and Pediacof. If you're reading this, then I know you've heard Robitussin. I'm about 50% certain that you've heard of Pediacof. Pediacof is a cough medicine for kids. But, Pediacof and Robitussin AC both contain Codeine. So, that's an example of the least dangerous, schedule five. Next level up is schedule four. Schedule four is more dangerous than schedule five, but less dangerous than schedule one. Some examples of common drugs that are schedule four are Ambien, Brevital, Valium, Darvocet and Xanax. Next is schedule three. Schedule three is more dangerous than schedule four. Some common drugs that are schedule three are Vicodin, hydrocodone, and codeine. Next up is schedule two. Examples of drugs that qualify as schedule two are poppies, PCP, Oxycontin, Percocet, opium, Ritalin, meth (aka crank, ice, speed), methadone, ecgonine (the active ingrediant in the leaves of the coca plant), coca leaves (the actual leaves are schedule two), and cocaine. Next is schedule one. Schedule one is the most dangerous. Examples of drugs that are schedule one are, marijuana, LSD, heroin, GHB, and ecstasy. Now, did you catch that? Marijuana is a schedule one narcotic. Now, most people who have an IQ of more than 5 know that ecstasy, GHB, LSD, quaaludes, peyote (and its active ingredient mescaline), cocaine, meth, and PCP are many times worse than marijuana will ever hope to be. And yet, it is schedule one.

The simple fact of the matter is, that the War on Drugs was started in 1971 during the Nixon administration. Back then, we only had two drug cartels to worry about. One was the Cali cartel, the other was the Medalin cartel, and both were based in Colombia. There are now six cartels in Colombia. There are now cartels in Mexico, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Afghanistan, and many other countries. And many of them operate here in the US. A main goal of the War on Drugs has been to get rid of as many drug cartels as possible. We have failed miserably in this respect. I know that a lot of people have called for the legalization of illicit drugs, but few of them offer any real solution to the problem. I would like to offer a solution.

My idea is simple. In 2010, the federal government spent $15,000,000,000 on the War on Drugs. So far this year, we've spent at least $6,900,000,000 at the federal level, and at least $11,700,000,000 at the state level to fight the War on Drugs. We take all illicit drugs, make them all legal, and then we tax them similarly to the way we tax alcohol and cigarettes. This would end the War on Drugs. Then, we close down the DEA. We give every DEA agent the choice of working for either the FBI or the ATF. Then we take all the money we've saved at the federal level and use it to pay off the national debt. Then, when the national debt is payed off, when then use the money saved at the federal level to do two things. We use 50% of the money to create a program to educate people with 100% of the truth about the effects of drugs on the human body, we then use the other 50% of the money to maintain/improve our infrastructure at the federal level. We then take the money we've saved at the state level to do two things. We use 50% the money to fund that program I mentioned previously, we then use the other 50% of the money to maintain/improve our infrastructure at the state level. We then enforce the laws that actually make a difference. Namely, the laws that make it illegal to murder, steal, and cheat.

That is my idea. As you can see, my idea is very well thought out, and it makes sense. You can't just dismiss this as the ravings of a twitchy addict. The thing is, it takes money to make important changes in this country. And like I said previously, I'm poor. So the only thing I can do is spread the word and hope that I can somehow make a difference.