Trent VuillemotITA 201: BauerAssignment 2, Draft 1Audience: adults opposed to drug decriminalizationThe war on drugsWhy it should end with decriminalizationEvery 19 seconds there is a drug arrest in the United States. (Drug War Statistics) On July 17, 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs. Drug abuse, according to the president, is "public enemy number one." Now, just over four decades later, the United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world, with 51 percent of those incarcerated for nonviolent drug crimes. Today the United States spends $51,000,000,000 per year to enforce drug laws, yet drug addiction rates have remained constant since the 1970s, with approximately 1.3% of the population addicted to drugs ( Groff). Prohibition doesn't work. It didn't work in the 1930s with alcohol and it doesn't work now with illegal drugs. It is extremely expensive and fails to reduce drug use and addiction. It is ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst. The solution is to decriminalize all drugs. Decriminalization is not legalization; there would still be penalties such as a fine for drug possession, but there would no longer be a criminal charge. We should change prohibition laws that have proven ineffective and try a different approach. The benefits of decriminalization are clear: less money spent enforcing drug laws that don't work means more money for other, more pressing law enforcement challenges. Fewer drug arrests mean fewer individuals with criminal records who may have difficulty finding a job. Current drug addicts would no longer need to fear persecution and could instead receive the help they desperately need. Law enforcement could regain the public's trust and respect. These are all reasons why we should... middle of paper... fight against myths. (Function)." Corrections Today 64.7 (2002): 86+. Academic OneFile. Web. 25 September 2014. Nadelmann, Ethan A. “Drug Decriminalization: Response” Science, New Series, Vol. 246. 1989: 1104-1105 Association American for the Advancement of Science. Web. September 25, 2014. In "Drug Decriminalization: Response" by Ethan Nadelmann he carefully responds to an article on drug decriminalization that states that alcohol prohibition has been responsible for the decline in drug-related hospitalizations. to alcohol during that period. Nadelmann counters with some data showing a similar decline over the same period in Britain, despite the lack of prohibition in that country. This type of information will be used in my essay to dispel common myths about the prohibition of drug, as demonstrated by his article was published in the journal Science, an academic periodical founded by Thomas Edison.