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Essay 3 - The legalization of drugs/decriminalization of drugs, the pros and cons
Course: Theories Of Criminal Behavior (LSTD 3773)
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University: University of Oklahoma
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Essay 3
The legalization of drugs/decriminalization of drugs has been a hot topic for the
past several years. Especially with the legalization of marijuana in a few states, Colorado and
Washington State being the first, the debate against and for the legalization of drugs is more
present than ever. I will present arguments for drug decriminalization/drug legalization and
arguments in opposition to drug decriminalization/drug legalization and share my own
personal opinion. First off, let’s define a few things; decriminalization is the act of no longer
continuing to criminally penalize people for certain acts concerning drugs, whether that is
dealing them or using them recreationally. Decriminalization typically alters the current
terms of criminalization and puts fines in place for these acts rather than jail time.
Legalization is what decriminalization, only there’s more to it. Legalization removes criminal
penalties as well as making these now legalized drugs taxable and controllable by local, state
and the federal governments.
The strongest arguments for the decriminalization, and even more so for the
legalization of drugs, are all based on the economical benefits of legalization. Legalization
could help our government by taxation revenue, decrease in the amount of crowding in
federal prisons and local jails, and possibly allow an opportunity for redemption for those
people that ‘got caught at the wrong place at the wrong time’. Drug legalization would
produce tax revenues of an estimated “46.7 billion annually, assuming legal drugs were taxed
at rates comparable to those on alcohol and tobacco” (Ghosh). By legalizing drugs our
government could slowly put some of the money from taxation towards things to better our
country, rather than fighting this war on drugs that will continue on until we change
something. Another benefit would be the decrease in the number of inmates our government