Oakwood Publishing Company:
SAT; ACT; GRE
Study Material
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The War On Drugs
We spend $50 billion per year trying to eradicate drugs from this country.
According to DEA estimates we capture less than 10 percent of all illicit
drugs. In this regard, I have a two part question 1) How much do you think
it will cost to stop the other ninety percent? 2) Does $50 billion a year
for a 90% failure rate seem like a good investment to you?
White people buy most of the illegal drugs in this country. Yet, seventy
four percent of those receiving prison sentences for drug possession are
African Has the cost of the War on Drugs in terms of billions of dollars,
blighted lives, jammed prisons, intensified racism, needless deaths, loss
of freedom etc., produced any significant change in drug availability or
perceived patterns of drug use?
A famous man once said "Prohibition goes beyond the bounds of reason
in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation and make
crime out of things that are not crimes." How do you respond to this statement?
The statement was made by Abraham Lincoln. It is estimated that 45 million
U.S. citizens have tried an illicit drug at least once. How many of the
45 million drug users do you feel we must incarcerate in order to win the
war on drugs? Why does the FDA stand up for the right of adults to smoke
tobacco, which is highly addictive and causes over 400,000 deaths per year,
while decreeing that adults have no right to smoke marijuana, which is
non-addictive and kills no one? Drug use is an acknowledged fact of life
in every prison in the country. If we can't stop prisoner' use of drugs,
how can we rationally expect to stop average free citizens from using them?
Despite signatures from 85 prominent groups and individuals, why has the
Hoover Resolution (a call for an independent panel to revue existing drug
policies) not been considered, accepted, or initiated? What lessons from
alcohol prohibition lead you to believe that the current drug war will
end in victory? At a time when working people are being asked to tighten
our belts in order to help balance the budget, how do you justify increasing
the funding to the drug law enforcement bureaucracy? Explain why supporting
a failed policy of drug law enforcement has a greater priority than student
loans or drug education programs.
What do you conclude from the experience of Holland--a country where
drugs fall under the jurisdiction of health agencies, not law enforcement--which
has seen a decline in chronic use of hard drugs and casual use of soft
drugs since de-criminalization? If illegal drugs are so obviously harmful
to people's health, why is it necessary to put so many American adults
in prison to prevent them from using these drugs? In drug policy discussions
we hear a lot about the "message" that certain policies may send to children.
What message is sent to inner city children who witness illegal drug sales
on their way to school each day?
The modern drug war began in the 1960s, and for thirty five years it
has failed to reduce drug access to school-aged children. Which is better
for America during the next 35 years, prohibition with continued school-aged
access to drugs OR reform policies that ease prohibition but reduce school-agllar
s?
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