Edmund F. McGarrell

The war on drugs has reduced illegal drug use in the United States, contends Edmund F. McGarrell in the following viewpoint. The number of Americans using cocaine and marijuana declined significantly during the 1980s and remained at low levels during the 1990s, he claims. Legalizing these drugs would have disastrous consequences, McGarrell argues; more than 80 percent of high school seniors have used alcohol—a controlled but legal substance—while only 10 percent have tried cocaine and heroin, both illegal drugs. If these drugs were legalized, he believes, many teens would be tempted to try them, and drug usage would soar. McGarrell is the director of the Crime Control Policy Center at the Hudson Institute, a policy research organization.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to the...