Peyton K

Period 1

Dear Future President

Preventing Drug Abuse

Imagine a world where people did not abuse drugs. Imagine a world where everyone is drug free and has no addiction towards drugs. Many people use drugs irresponsible which can make them very sick or even death. I think it's important to maintain the status of marijuana as illegal because it is a gateway drug, decriminalization encourages abuse, and drug abuse as a criminal issue.

Our world has big problem with drug abuse. One drug that is used the most is Marijuana. “Marijuana use was more widely reported worldwide, and the U.S. also had the highest rate of use at 42.4% in the world.”(CbsNews) I think marijuana in the U.S. should be abolished. 50% of the United States have already made marijuana illegal. “More than half of new illicit drug users begin with marijuana. Next most common are prescription pain relievers, followed by inhalants (which is most common among younger teens).”(DrugFacts).

Young Teens start with the drugs Marijuana and prescription pain relieve. "Nothing good happens when the only option we have is to charge [these kids] criminally, and see what kind of sanctions we can get from the courts. That’s not the way to go. That’s where decriminalization comes in."(Urban Wire). The police says we need to decrease the punishment for kids. Because it's not the right thing to do to put these kids in jail. But I think they shouldn’t do decriminalization because you are lessening the punishment for doing a crime.

“Drug abuse is viewed as a public health issue—not just a criminal justice issue: Early in the program, La Vigne introduced Kerlikowske as the person who “replaced the word ‘war’ with the word ‘treatment.”(Urban Wire). People now are seeing drug abuse as a health issue rather than a criminal issue. People need to see that drug abuse is wrong and see it as a health issue.

I think the president should maintain marijuana as a gateway drug, to abolish the decriminalization thought of abuse, and to see drug abuse as a health issue instead of a criminal issue. This will help with decreasing the urge to abuse drugs.

Sincerely,

Peyton K

Work Cited:

Warner, Jennifer. "U.S. Leads the World in Illegal Drug Use." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 1 July 2008. Web. 04 Nov. 2016

Https://www.facebook.com/NIDANIH. "Nationwide Trends." DrugFacts:. N.p., June 2015. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Levins, Nicole. "Three Ways Drug Policy Is Evolving." Urban Institute. N.p., 12 May 2015. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.