it is the result of a disease.Since addiction is believed to be a social problem then an attempt at cutting off the source of addiction, drugs in this case, is thought to cure the problem. If that be the case then gambling and food abusers should be treated the same as addicts. Since drug legalization is the topic of this essay let us focus on alternatives to the "War on Drugs".One possibility for controlling drug abuse is to legalize illegal drugs. In the 1920s alcohol was made illegal by the eighteenth amendment better know as prohibition. This experiment at cutting off the source of alcohol to alleviate alcohol abuse was a dismal failure. From it stemmed all sort of crime, illegal alcohol sales, gang controlled territories, police shootings and above all, most people continued to drink. In contrast to todays society where drugs are illegal there is not much difference. We have the same type of violent crime and gang control as in the roaring twenties, and people continue to use drugs. Another result of prohibition was an increase in binge drinking, much the same as we have the binge drug user today. Countries where alcohol is considered a normal part of life, such as Greece and Italy, have low occurrences of alcoholism. However, where alcohol is looked upon as a moral problem, such as the United States or Finland, alcoholism is rampant. This is the result of social conditioning much like Pavlovs dogs. Since drugs are considered the demon here in America, citizens use as a method of rebelling as well as out of curiosity of 4what the big deal is. Contrary to popular belief, using a drug for its euphoric effect is not a bad thing and dates back historically to the beginning of time. Hundreds of test have been conducted on addicts and the result is that the setting and mind set are the reasons for ...
