Short Essay - Drugs Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Short - Drugs - Essay Example It has been suggested, and in some cases demonstrated, that legalizing or at least decriminalizing less harmful drugs, such as marijuana, can help to reduce the violence, significantly decrease the numbers of people incarcerated for drug use, allow more individuals to remain a contributing member of society and free up funds and manpower to combat against more harmful substances. Although marijuana was included as a restricted substance as early as 1937, there has never been sufficient evidence to support claims that the drug causes widespread violence and destruction all by itself. â€Å"There never was any scholarly evidence that the [anti-drug] laws were necessary, or even beneficial, to public health and safety and none was presented when the laws were passed.† (Schaffer). With the number of Vietnam vets returning from war addicted to narcotics, President Nixon officially declared the opening of the War on Drugs in 1971, primarily directed against heroin addiction. The positive effects that were seen coming out of this early stage in the anti-drug movement has been attributed to the fact that a larger proportion of the funding available for this struggle was directed toward treatment, rather than law enforcement. (Thirty Years, 2006). Throughout these early years, marijuana was seen as a low-level drug until a group of mothers, concerned at findin g marijuana at a 13-year-old’s party, founded the Families in Action anti-drug group in 1976. The movement gained strength and direction under President Reagan in 1981 after the drug cartels in Colombia had violently made their presence known in Miami. While Nancy Reagan’s â€Å"Just Say No to Drugs† campaign included marijuana as one of the drugs to avoid, the focus of the war on drugs remained targeted on cocaine as the cartels gained increasing power and organization. The focus was finally turned to marijuana smugglers