Essays on Drug War

For many years, most of the European countries and the states of the USA debate about the legalization of drugs. Historically, marijuana has become one of the most popular and frequently discussed drugs. Moreover, it is already legalized in several states in the US and in the several other countries around the world. As it usually is, there are two main camps of supporters and opponents of legalization. The problem of this issue is rather complex and controversial. This inconsistency can be understood by considering the arguments of both positions, i.e. for and against. Anyway, if marijuana is legalized ...

For long, the war on drugs has been fought through many fronts such as the criminalization of certain drugs, harsh penalties for drug possession and military confrontation. The military is being used to combat drug trafficking since it is now believed that drug trafficking has become a national security issue. This is because drug trafficking has caused widespread corruption, undermining of democracies and has sometimes been used to finance terrorism. Military action mainly targets capturing or killing of leaders of major drug cartels. Military operations have also helped in chasing, tracking and capturing of drug smugglers. Military success can ...

The drug war in Mexico has left more than 100,000 people dead in Mexico in just the past couple of years. “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, the leader of the largest drug trafficking organization in Mexico and his capture grabs much attention in the media. Still, there are speculations if the drug war can really end just by capturing the leader. Drug gangs are active and have no fear of the law. The slaying of Gisela Mota, the mayor of Texmico, just one day after she took office is an example of dangers faced by the society and ...

The United States possesses a fascinating history pertaining to substance abuse. Even though there are many theories as to why substance abuse exists in the United States and why that substance abuse is taken to the extreme, there is one theory that greatly stands out above the rest. The United States is too protective and puritan in many ways. This is not a statement meaning to disrespect the United States; however, it is a relevant comment to explain why such a substantial rebellion from the youth in the 1960’s transpired with regard to substances and culture in general. ...

The War on Drugs arguably has been a war against the puritan ideals within the United States versus those who want to consume drugs. To be forthcoming, I am not advocating the use of drugs recreationally; however, I feel that where the United States has committed a major error is by not allowing drugs in because what has transpired as a result is the creation of bodies of crime that have caused a great deal of violence. To call this a “war” is a gross exaggeration. The reason for this is that a “war” involves the Untied States combatting ...

Of all wars to have been conducted by the USA, the war on drugs is the least promising, with government and law enforcement agencies fighting it in a losing battle. When American authorities got it going some 4 decades ago, it was doomed to be a losing war for a number of reasons, of which one is a historic precedent never taken into consideration. It is well-documented that the only lesson we ever learn from history is that we do not learn any lessons from it at all. However, what America should learn is that conventional tools of mandatory bans and restrictions imposed ...

The Book Part

Michele Alexander covers the issue of racialism in the modern society. Though the media claims that the modern American society has moved past the racism era, racism has taken a modern form in terms of the social policies that the government implements. Through these social policies, members of different races receive different conviction for the same offenses. These social policies present the transformation of racism. Obama’s victorious election into presidency may have depicted the end of racism, but society perceives it differently. The social policy on the drug war presents the real image of modern racism. The criminal ...

In the past few years, several states such as North Carolina and Maryland have sought to decriminalize marijuana. Other states across the country, such as Connecticut, Montana, and even California have legalized weed for medicinal use. Last year the infamous Colorado and Washington states managed to legalize marijuana sales to anybody as long as they purchased the marijuana from government subsidiaries and taxed at the time of purchase. While many believe that these changes are a productive and modern step forward for medicine and the country’s financial gain, but they are ignoring the bad that legalizing marijuana will bring. ...

Illegal drugs are being misused by many people around the globe. Some of this illegal drugs have medicinal value but has addicting characteristics. This is the reason why they are being widely prohibited. In the United States is making a lot of movement to stop the usage and distribution of these substance. The declaration of War on Drugs was more than forty years ago by President Richard Nixon. However, there are many conflicts that weakens the War on Drugs movement of the United States (US). Military, US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and other US government departments are doing ways to ...

Analysis on “To Die In Mexico”

The war on drugs, as it has developed in Mexico, where supplies to fill a US demand, have led to extreme loss of life, parallel power systems, government corruption, extreme costs to taxpayers and a variety of social woes. Regardless of the argument for or against legalization, or the effects of the controlling cocaine and marijuana has led to numerous undesired consequences. As John Gibler argues in his book To Die in Mexico, the message the governments of both Mexico and the US tell to the general public regarding the justification for the war on drugs, are false and designed to ...

There is an ongoing debate on whether to legalize the use of medicinal marijuana or ban it altogether. Several states in the US have decided to allow its use as a medicinal drug while others are still adamant at banning it. One of the mainly egregious outcomes of marijuana ban is that a lot of sick citizens cannot lawfully access the medication that functions most excellent for them. For lots of gravely ill people, medicinal marijuana is the only drug that relieves their ache and anguish, or treats symptoms of their health state, with no debilitating side effect. Marijuana has been ...

Introduction

According to the Bureau of statistics dating 2005, the drug arrests have significantly increased. This has been a change seen from the past decades. The number shot from almost half a million people to approximately 2 million in almost 30 years. The enforcements of the drug law has mostly been seen affecting colored communities. This is supported by the number of arrests made between late 90s and the onset of 2000 (Alexander, 2011). It is true to say that the policies as well as the practices that follow arrest are implicitly biased. From a structured perspective, both the Hispanics as well as ...

The abuse of drugs is on the increase in most countries in the world with the antidrug campaigns bearing no fruits in most cases. The illegal trade is carried out by men and also women involvement in drug trafficking has been on the increase in the Mexico-US border. The number of female inmates in the Mexican prisons increased by 40% in 2007 due to drug-related cases. Efforts to prevent drug trafficking have been enforced in many countries, but it does not stop the trade since more stringent measures need to be enforced. Most of the drugs distributed in the ...

Introduction

The War on Drugs has been a controversial topic for as long as many people can now remember in the U.S.A. It is for this very reason that the war must be viewed critically for its effectiveness as there are now generations of people caught up in the war. The purpose of this essay is to look beyond what we believe the war on drugs to be from media reports and uninformed opinions. Instead the film ‘The House I Live In’ makes the viewer critical of the war and to look at it from a sociological perspective. The purpose of this ...

In Support of Legalizing Marijuana

Abstract Marijuana and it medicinal use continues to be a controversial topic. Surprisingly, marijuana has been around for centuries and many early doctors used the substance to treat a number of medical ailments. The Chinese wrote numerous literatures on the medical uses of marijuana and it is no surprise that modern-day doctors seek to improve to the ancient art of using marijuana for medical purposes. However, as with all substances, there are side effects that cause damages in its users. The excessive use of marijuana cause serious hallucinations, but these dangers are not fatal. There are no records to suggest ...

Drugs in Latin America

Introduction Latin America is regarded as a central geographical zone for the production, trading, and trafficking of the drugs. However, the Andean countries of Peru, Columbia, and Bolivia are the major producers of cocaine in the world, while Mexico, Caribbean, and Central America are the major corridors for the transport of drugs into Europe and the United States. More and more people are participating in the drug trade. Cocaine is one of the major drugs that have done great damage in the United States, and it has exerted bad impacts on the society. People are involving in crimes and ...

A logical dissection is a composed clarification about how an essayist (or speaker) endeavors to change the psyche of his or her group of onlookers. A compelling explanatory examination shows a full understanding of the interchange of the expository triangle. The reason for this task is to deliver a relative logical dissection of three articles on the same subject: one sourced from corporate media, the other sourced from the free or option press and the other distinguished from the nearby articles. These articles are Drug war and class war, America's amazingly oblivious voters, and The Slippery Slope Begins. Drug wars and ...

Movie review

Narco Cultura is a 2013 documentary film describing Mexican Drug War in the borderland city of Juarez, directed by Shaul Schwarz. The following documentary focuses on two main story lines: fragments of life and career of Edgar Quintero, American singer, songwriter, and the member of Mexican folk style band named “Buknas de Culiacan”. Another story line portrays daily routine of Ricardo Soto, a crime scene investigator and the member of the police unit investigating numerous drug-related killings in the city of Juarez. The documentary shows a depressing picture of the city of Juarez struck by the ongoing war on drugs, as ...

The United States and Mexico have long been partners in both political and economic fronts since the early times due to its geographical closeness and shared conflicts. As the years progressed, both nations have agreed in mutual agreement to cement their partnership that would boost their political, economic and social ties. Recently, President Obama visited and met with President Enrique Pena of Mexico to discuss economic and security issues such as the improvement of trade policies, immigration agreements and strategies to aid in the war on drugs. However, the war on drugs had been the focal point of the ...

Introduction

Over the past decade, most people have lost their lives due to drug-related violence in Mexico. The infamous Drug War in Mexico is a problem that emanated from the country’s long history of drug use. The drug trafficking activities in the country can be linked to the tolerance of production of drugs such as heroin, cocaine, poppy and marijuana by the authorities. The Mexican states of Chiapas, Sinaloa, Guerrero and Veracruz are known for drug plantations. The prominence of the trade in these regions can be attributed to the corruption of the authorities through bribery and sometimes threats.

Theoretical Social Perspectives

Functional ...

TEXAS CRIMES

Likert scale format is used to measure the level of attitude of somebody towards a research finding. It was first introduced by Rensis Likert in 1932. It’s used in surveys to formulate questionnaires where the Likert items are used to measure the attitude of people towards that question (Brown, et al. 2013). The Likert items include: strongly agree, agree, not decided, disagree and strongly disagree. The following are questions formulated from the Texas crime Research that I did: - It has been noted that Mexican drug-smuggling cartels have shifted to Texas border after Arizona border was secured. Has ...

Film Studies

The House I Live In is a compelling account of the manner in which America’s War on Drugs has devastates families and individuals especially those belonging to the minority community. It has targeted the poor and the jobless. The film portrays touching anecdotes of those directly impacted by drugs – be it the grieving mother to the drug dealer, the senator to the narcotics officer, the federal judge to the prison inmate. The film highlights this as a serious human rights issue and urges people to speak against the injustice taking place in this country. The film in fact portrays ...

Successful public policy is very difficult to devise but when the known facts and the perceptions of the citizens and government officials are used with honesty, success is more likely. David Baum wrote a book about the ‘war on drugs’ titled Smoke and Mirrors which was published in 1996. Examples from his book have been discussed with reference to Deborah A. Stone’s categories of causal stories. Causal stories that are used to justify public policy may involve policy actions that have been carefully researched and are targeted towards a specific goal. On the other hand the actions may be based ...

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the development of gendarmerie in Mexico. It is a special military body that serves as a fully armed, auxiliary police bureau and created with the purpose to maintain law and order in public. The first part of this research consists of the political situation in Mexico and reasons that led to the creation of the additional police force. The final stage of the research will be concerning the positive and negative influences of this political and social phenomenon. This information might be useful for people that are not indifferent in current political and ...

Cause analysis

The house I live in by Eugene Jarecki is the most interesting drug war film that I have ever watched. This is because the movie has histories and evidences showing the ways in which the contemporary nations have failed to eliminate drugs in the society. However, the film also indicates that modern societies only focus on fighting against the drug users. In the film, Jarecki was narrating about his personal as well as heartbreaking past and the ways in which it enabled him expose different level of prohibitions in drug trafficking. I found the film amazing when Jarecki was ...

Legalization of Marijuana

The issue on legalization of highly dangerous substances has always been a cause of debate for many countries considering the health and social risks it has over the public, and its users. Alcohol and tobacco are currently legal for distribution and production, making it one of the most lucrative businesses in the market. It is also a significant source for government funding as these two markets are required to pay high taxes to continue their production. Recently, the issue of legalizing another dangerous substance is being debated, and that is the substance known as Marijuana. Opponents to legalizing marijuana often note ...

Legalization of marijuana is a controversial subject, which creates a great debate across the globe. There exist a number of myths and misconceptions concerning the use of marijuana. For this reason, many countries the use of marijuana has been banned in most countries. However, some countries have legalized its use or permitted its usage for medicinal purposes. Proponents for its legalization argue that it is useful because of its monetary benefits and its medicinal use. On the other hand, the opponents for the legalization argue that marijuana is detrimental because of its harmful effects on the users. This paper aims at explaining ...

Marijuana should Legalized in the United States.

The legalization of marijuana in the United States is a subject that creates a great debate. The subject creates polarization between the American citizens with each side having a prediction of what will happen with the legalization of the drug. The proponents argue that the legalization of the drug has many economic benefits to the country. In addition, Marijuana is not harmful to its users compared to other legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco. On the other hand, opponents argue that the legalization increases the likelihood of the drug falling into the hands of the underage and the drug can be a ...

‘Medical Marijuana’ is the term used to contrast the use of marijuana as a pharmaceutical to the recreational use of marijuana; it is marijuana which is used as a pharmaceutical (NCI, 2012; Louie, 2005). Marijuana is a species of cannabis so that term is also used when discussing medical marijuana (Fichtner, 2010, 63-64). Hash, hashish oil and marijuana are all made from parts of the Cannabis sativa plant (NCI, 2012; Louie, 2005). The pharmaceutical effects that relieve symptoms such as chronic pain and nausea are due to the active ingredient in the marijuana plant called THC. The chemical name is delta9tetrahydrocannnabinol (NCI, ...

The people of Monterrey, Mexico's modern city in northern part heard the gunshots in the month of November this year and as a result, a twenty one years old innocent student was killed when an assailant opened fire in an overcrowded place. After the incident, the government has decided to deploy more police force along with the army in the city but people are in a state of shock due to the open bloodshed in their neighborhood. The Monterrey is Mexico’s third wealthiest and largest city, known for some very good educational institutions but in the recent years, the Mexican drug ...

Economy

Economically, Mexico is emerging from a ‘rock bottom’ situation. After the signing of the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA) 1993, nearly 10 million farmers were left bankrupt (The Economist). This because cheap food stuff was imported into Mexico from other neighboring countries making farmers in northern Mexico unable to continues with farming.

Experts further assert that the economy worsened during the financial crisis suffered the United States, the biggest trading partner of Mexico. Recession in United State’s economy reduced exports from Mexico by about 25%. This decline in exports pushed the economy of the country into deep recession. Mexicans ...

Arthur Benaive (2008) like many concerned modern scientists in the American society consistently criticizes attempts by law markers in covering up the real deal of the drug trade claiming to have begun a “war on drugs.’ The author defines this situation “holy war’ comparing it to ones fought in Islamic nations for the purposes of religious freedom or acknowledgement of God. On the other hand, institutions set up to fight ‘war on drugs’ are actually means to building the business since there are benefits to be gained from sustaining it in the name of God classifying it ‘holy.’ From further ...

Since the turn of the 20th century, US governments have tried to control the use of drugs through the application of different policies that have mainly focused on the economic aspects of distribution at the expense of other policies. The federal, state and local governments have spent billions of dollars in their effort to ensure that America is free from drugs. However, these efforts seems to have come to naught since it is cheaper and easier than ever before to obtain drugs like heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illegal drugs. The war on drugs has failed ...