Strong drug enforcement in the  United States is correlated with the reduction  in crime , drug use, and drug addiction growth rates. The impact on tougher  drug sanctions has been overshadowed by a myth that U.S. drug enforcement has become too lenient.
	This myth has been promoted  by the multi-million dollar  pro-drug  legalization lobby,  civil libertarians, and misguided academic researchers   to the public with limited review  and  challenge.
	Attacks on drug enforcement efforts often hold law enforcement  to impossible and changing   performance standards.  Law enforcement , treatment , and prevention complement each other. None of the credit  for the twelve year  decline in drug use among our children is attributed  to law enforcement, yet recent increase in drug use are cited as evidence of law enforcement's failure.
	Without question, drug abuse in our society has been a major cause of crime and social disruption. The drug problem has been so enormous that some in our society , misguided by frustration , are listening to the arguments to legalize or decriminalize drugs. The solution to the drug problem is not to repeal the drug laws. The solution requires commitment to a balanced  effort on drug education , prevention , treatment, and law enforcement.  Softening our drug laws would  be a major mistake. Research and  data clearly  shows  the problem is not  drug  prohibition , but drug use. When drugs are cheap and easily accessible ,  more people will use them. It  is a frightening  scenario  that envisions more of our citizens, both juveniles and adults, using mind -altering substances that not only affect their own behavior and health, but also endanger innocent  people.
	Experience has already shown a link between  illegal drug use and crime; that even the so called " victimless " use of marijuana can cause a disproportionate amount of serious  accidents; and other countries , such as South Korea and Taiwan ,  learned that tolerating  drug abuse only  allowed it to grow out of  hand. Those who do not learn from experience are bound to repeat it. We cannot afford  to do this with the drug problem. There  are the lives of innocent people  at stake in our generation and the next generation .




	Let's be realistic, legalizing marijuana is a terrible idea which   would have  serious  negative  side effects.  Those in favor of legalization  are making false arguments that may sound good , but  are often simplistic and short sighted. Legalization may lessen  the violence surrounding drug dealing , but the real problem is violence resulting from drug use, and this must be addressed with strong  law enforcement , substance abuse treatment, prevention and a commitment to change.
	Anyone who uses marijuana and thinks that "pot" is not harmful  is fooling themselves. The active ingredient  THC , is addictive ,  and users  can get just as addicted as they can  with nicotine ( cigarettes and chewing tobacco)  or alcohol or cocaine.
	Any tax revenue collected resulting from  legalization would be minimal compared to the social cost of addiction.  Legalization would create even more clients for an already overburdened treatment system, and at a much higher cost. Treatment is only a part of the price  that we pay, we will also  be paying for the marijuana users increased health problems, reduced productivity , injuries from  auto accidents ,  and crime. The overwhelming media impact on drug legalization is scary when you think of the impact on young people. Marijuana is the most widely used  illicit drug  in the United States. The good news is that marijuana use is down slightly according to some recent surveys.  We must send messages to society especially the teen-age members that it is not  all right to get " high", getting high is not  a message that stresses healthy relaxation and coping with problems in a matured manner.
	What if a tiny but stubborn group of people continued to promote legalization of what is now illegal drugs? We cannot afford  to permit the few misguided people, some possibly that have ulterior motives, to succeed. There is a major need for factual  information to counter the Drug Policy Foundation and others who continue to push for a nation of zombies and destroy America.
	The nations most precious resource is it's children , the future generation.  We must leave them 




with a society that will give them the best chances possible for a useful , healthy , and safe life that is free from crime and drugs. What if drugs were legalized what would our communities be like? We would have people walking around high half of the time, people would lose their jobs because they could not perform, the economy would diminish , there would be an overwhelming number of people  on welfare, and who is going to pay for  these people, I don't want to , the only solution it not to legalize drugs it would not and could not help society so why legalize. The only people who would gain from drug legalization would be drug producers, drug sellers, criminals, addicts, and money launderers.  Who will lose, our children , families, neighborhoods, communities, all of us.  We all need to make a stand before we end up losing
even more of our children to drugs and violence.
	Those who look at drug legalization as a good idea are looking at it from a financial stand point. Legalization is a flawed concept. The notion that drug legalization will take the underworld element out of the drug trade and result in lower prices is ridiculous. In fact drug abuse would only become more wide spread and run more rampant. Models for this are alcohol and tobacco, both represent serious health hazards, why now add cocaine, heroin, marijuana, LSD and other illicit drugs, to the list of major health hazard substances that people can legally consume.  Pro-legalization  advocates attempt to appeal to emotion, not reason. Legalization  or decriminalization is not drug reform, it is drug retardation, taking us back to the laxidasical  drug policies of the 1970's.  The greatest danger of legalization is to the youth of the country. The youth of our country are the most difficult  to diagnose  and to treat.
	Drugs lead to violence and crime that has been established , legalization will not stop this no matter what anybody argues drugs are dangerous,  to those who use them as well as those who do not but are around users. Legalization will not prevent the chemicals and physiological responses  of the body some of which  take people totally out of reality and also sometimes kill.  The issue on crime is split people say the crime would go down because the price of drugs would go down ,  maybe this is true but it 




is very  unlikely. As people become addicted they need more and more, what happens when the money runs out? People are going to do whatever it takes to obtain their "fix" which  includes stealing , robbing , and burglarization possibly even murder, anything to get their drugs.  
	My feeling on this subject is that of total disagreement with the legalization of drugs. People only want the legalization for the profit end of the industry , which is the only appealing side of the drug trade, but it is not appealing enough to sacrifice my children's future for money. The drug war can be won with the right policies, but legalization is not the answer. We need to save this country, it is the best country in the world, so why destroy it.




























                                                       Crimin: Multidis  Approach
         
                                                               Drug Legalization           
                                                                      
                                                         



                                                                    
                                                               November 24, 1996








I.  Introduction
II.  Crime Reduction and Growth Rates
A.  Lobby's
B.  Drug decline
III.   Arguments
A.  Economy
B.  Profit
IV.  Links Between Crime and Drugs
V.  Health Problems from Drug Use
A.  Chemicals
B.  Death
VI.  The Children
A.  The Present
B.  The Future
VII.  Conclusion