Should Illegal Drugs Remain Illegal? Essay, Research Paper

Hello, class. My name is Scott Gulas and today I will be debating in support of the opinion that “Illegal drugs should remain illegal.” I feel that this point of view benefits the entire population of the United States of America.

Do you want a beer; how bout a joint? I bet this pill will cheer you up?sound familiar? It’s as if these phrases are present in our daily conversations from teenage years throughout our existence. Drugs affect the lives of everyone in the United States today. A recent study done by USA Today showed that 63% of those under the age of 18 have experimented with at least one illegal drug, and those percentages are on the rise.

Illegal drugs include, but are not limited to, alcohol consumption by anyone under the age of 21 or tobacco usage by a person under the age of 18, marijuana, cocaine, heroine, ecstasy, and of course, LSD or acid. Each has its own uses and effects.

Though some of these drugs are stimulants and some are depressants, most of them hold many similar characteristics in regard to how they affect you and your body. Some of these drugs alter the mindset of an individual and inhibit needed skills. The odd thing about this statement is that those are the exact reasons why people take these drugs. Right?!?!

First off, such drugs as alcohol (a depressant) alter the mindset of the drinker. Due to this, a person may do socially unacceptable things that they would not do otherwise. This behavior, such as extreme anger or hostility toward loved ones, rape, murder, and battery, are all forms of deviant behavior.

Secondly, depressant-style drugs inhibit a person from using his skills to his potential and ability. Normal daily activities become impaired, such as walking, talking, thinking, and making judgements. This includes drinking and driving. Even if you were intoxicated or high, an accident that ends with death is still murder.

In a way, you could blame individuals, or use personal attribution, to explain why someone would step foot in the driver’s seat of a car while intoxicated. Though he knows the potential danger at hand, he may feel that he can still operate it correctly. This action shows a lack of thought and good judgement, both normal attributes.

Another side of the issue is that of health problems. As children and young adults, we were taught that drugs are illegal and do great harm to us. For this reason, systemic attribution cannot be accounted for with this social problem. However, if drugs were legalized, then young people may not grow up knowing the reality of drugs and would have an ideology that is all wrong.

Kids would grow up, not knowing any better, watching their elders doing drugs and would think that it is all right. The truth is that they are very harmful to your body and mind, and should never be implemented in the lives of young people.

This action, legalizing drugs, could only cause more social problems to exist, rather than finding a solution to an ever-growing problem facing many teenagers and young adults today.

There are consequences to all actions taken. An action in favor of keeping illegal drugs illegal allows people to remain attentive to the seriousness of the effects of these substances, and hopefully to prohibit their usage and therefore, set the right example for others.

No matter what you think, you cannot drive a car as well intoxicated as you can while sober. This is why we have laws to prohibit taking any form of drugs and then driving. Even though you have the right to kill yourself, you do not have the right to put an innocent bystander’s life in danger.