Prohibition of Drugs: Pro and Con
The history of U.S. social and legal policy in regard to psychoactive and intoxicating drug use has been characterized by periodic shifts, strong ideological presuppositions, and deep disappointment. Any analysis of current policy and the debate about drug legalization must recognize the historical roots of current policy that affect the various positions in the debate.
A brief historical note may help place the current discussion of drug policy in the United States in perspective. To borrow a phrase from Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun. Those engaged in the current, often heated, discussions about national drug policy often act as if their concerns, insights, and positions about intoxication, drug use, and society are unique to our age. A cursory review of history indicates that the debate on the meaning and effects of alcohol and other drug use on morals, public safety, productivity, and health is at least as old as written language. Some of the earliest recorded civilizations struggled with the issue and often adopted laws and policies that attempted to strictly regulate or prohibit the use of alcohol and other drugs.
Often these laws were based on a culture's perspective on the will of the divine or combined with basic civil codes.
This is a free page. This page contains 201 words. This
article contains 4,091 words (approx. 14 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Article with our Prohibition of Drugs: Pro and Con Access Pass.
