Drug use is quite common in every country all over the world. It is something that is indulged in addictively by certain groups of people. There is a range of drugs some seen not as bad as others, for example marijuana is seen as not as bad as cocaine. Everyone has a different perspective on drugs.
In some countries drugs are illegal whereas in other countries have drug policies. For example, in the Netherlands to possess, buy or sell drugs is illegal, however they have created a drug policy which allows the use of marijuana under strict terms and conditions. This has worked out for the Netherlands in the terms of back street crime, but they still have problems. The Netherlands have become a tourist hotspot for cannabis. They are now looking at illegalising weed and removing the drug policy because of this. Compared to other countries the Netherlands has ‘the best drug policy’ (Anderson, 2011).
Despite the UK’s strict laws surrounding the usage and supply of drugs reported crime continues to rise. Many crimes also reported to be associated with drug use. The war on drugs does not seem to be working.
We see drug users turn to crime to feed their habit, in turn they have difficulties with obtaining jobs due to a criminal record.
Parents are losing their children in order to keep them safe and families are being torn apart, only leading the children of broken families down similar cycles more often than not.
Hurt people hurting people.
In my opinion the money could be better spent on resolving the matters that turn people to drugs in the first place. This could include counselling and support for those who seek to numb their emotions, educating children on the topic of emotional mastery, self-compassion, and healing of trauma.
Legalising the use of drugs would make it a far less profitable pursuit for those who seek to benefit from the pain of others.
It is believed that the proceeds of crime were what carried the western economies through the various recessions. The current proceeds of drugs alone in the global economy being estimated at £111 billion makes question as to whether it would be in the interests of the governments to tackle drugs in a different and more helpful way.
Portugal changed the possession of drugs from a criminal offence to a civil one in 2001. Portugal’s crime rates have dropped dramatically due to this and their streets are better off as there is less crime involving drugs.
This image clearly portrays the number of issues that have come from drug crimes decrease. This has caused a major revamp to the whole system in Portugal and projects a different way to look at drug related crime and how countries can turn a bad situation into a good one.
My opinion is drugs should be decriminalised but not encouraged. I feel as though decriminalising drugs will help in the long run. Every country is always going to have drug users, this is a problem that will always be present. If drugs were to be decriminalised this would reduce the street value of drugs, leading to less drug dealers as there would be less profit to no profit to be made from selling drugs. The money that the government used to fight the crime with police force etc can then be reinvested into help for drug users to get them on a path to safety. I personally feel like this would be a good way to reduce crime and reduce drug users eventually. Rather than shunning drugs completely and crime rates increasing.
When it comes to drugs everyone has a separate opinion. Some people believe they should be banned, and some people believe they should be legal. The way I see it Is that the more you ban something the more someone is going to want it, and the more someone wants something the more that person will do for this certain thing. This leads to addiction, if drugs were so accessible and were projected to be took responsibly, I believe this would reduce addictions as well as crimes, deaths, and all the other things drugs come with.
It is up to everyone what their opinions on drug legalisations are.
I would be very interested to know everyone’s opinions, thoughts, and theories.
References
Anderson, S, 2011. European Drug Policy: The Cases of Portugal, Germany, and The Netherlands Steve Anderson. [online] eiu.edu. Available at: <https://www.eiu.edu/polisci/pdf/EIU%20Politcal%20Science%20Review%20Vol%201%20issue%201%20article%202.pdf> [Accessed 14 March 2021].
https://www.statista.com/chart/20616/key-developments-since-portugal-decriminalized-drugs/
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