Obama"s Illegal Drug Policies
In the early 1970s, President Richard Nixon made a comment that would haunt the US government for the next four decades.
His "war on drugs" slogan became and continues to be a top priority of every administration since.
With President Obama's recent appointment of Gil Kerlikowske as the White House "drug czar", the White House has promised to change their tactics in attacking illegal drugs from a criminal standpoint to a medical one.
With an estimated twenty-five million Americans using illegal drugs this year alone, Obama has requested over fifteen billion dollars from Congress in order to pursue the decline of drug use in America.
One of the problems people have with illegal drugs is the differing tactics used to combat them.
Traditionally, the US has enforced a more criminal view; that is, possessing or using illegal drugs is a criminal act to be punished with jail time.
Opposition to this tactic cite facts such as, "[the US has spent] $121 billion to arrest more than 37 million nonviolent drug offenders, about 10 million of them for marijuana possession, and $450 billion to hold the ones locked up in federal prison alone.
" They claim that a criminal viewpoint on drugs is ineffective and should be changed to a medical tactic.
This stance addresses illegal drugs as an addiction or medical illness and seeks to provide treatment to drug users.
One regular drug user explained his view, "I don't want to be judged because of a medication I take.
One can have a normal life and take drugs.
" Viewing illegal drugs as a medical concern is traditionally the approach of many countries in Europe.
"Reducing harm" is the leading motto which is the way this administration would have us turn.
In the Wall Street Journal an article recently commented, "To translate this new paradigm into action we must start by changing the status of addicts from drug buyers in the illegal market to patients cared for by the public-health system.
" Examples of this policy can be found all over Europe.
In Switzerland, "heroin assisted treatment" is a standard, recognized part of the national health care administration.
"Safe Injection Sites" offer drug addicts a place to inject their drug of choice legally and with medical supervision.
"There are about 90 [safe injection sites] in at least 59 cities within Europe, namely in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Spain and Norway.
" Everyone understands that illegal drugs are a problem; the only disagreement is finding the best solution to that problem.
His "war on drugs" slogan became and continues to be a top priority of every administration since.
With President Obama's recent appointment of Gil Kerlikowske as the White House "drug czar", the White House has promised to change their tactics in attacking illegal drugs from a criminal standpoint to a medical one.
With an estimated twenty-five million Americans using illegal drugs this year alone, Obama has requested over fifteen billion dollars from Congress in order to pursue the decline of drug use in America.
One of the problems people have with illegal drugs is the differing tactics used to combat them.
Traditionally, the US has enforced a more criminal view; that is, possessing or using illegal drugs is a criminal act to be punished with jail time.
Opposition to this tactic cite facts such as, "[the US has spent] $121 billion to arrest more than 37 million nonviolent drug offenders, about 10 million of them for marijuana possession, and $450 billion to hold the ones locked up in federal prison alone.
" They claim that a criminal viewpoint on drugs is ineffective and should be changed to a medical tactic.
This stance addresses illegal drugs as an addiction or medical illness and seeks to provide treatment to drug users.
One regular drug user explained his view, "I don't want to be judged because of a medication I take.
One can have a normal life and take drugs.
" Viewing illegal drugs as a medical concern is traditionally the approach of many countries in Europe.
"Reducing harm" is the leading motto which is the way this administration would have us turn.
In the Wall Street Journal an article recently commented, "To translate this new paradigm into action we must start by changing the status of addicts from drug buyers in the illegal market to patients cared for by the public-health system.
" Examples of this policy can be found all over Europe.
In Switzerland, "heroin assisted treatment" is a standard, recognized part of the national health care administration.
"Safe Injection Sites" offer drug addicts a place to inject their drug of choice legally and with medical supervision.
"There are about 90 [safe injection sites] in at least 59 cities within Europe, namely in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Spain and Norway.
" Everyone understands that illegal drugs are a problem; the only disagreement is finding the best solution to that problem.
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