Drug use across the United States has been an epidemic and source of concern for decades. Crime and health issues have forced society to deal with the issue. The current policy of the United States and Texas has been described as a ‘war on drugs’. This process criminalizes all parties involved with illegal drug use. Traffickers, dealers, and users are all treated as criminals. In recent years there has been much controversy over how to handle the problem of drug use, and the ‘war on drugs’ policy has been called into question. Some feel that the current policy has worked and is necessary to combat drug use. Others feel that the users themselves should not be treated as criminals. A third group feels that drugs should be legalized altogether. So the question is, should the United States decriminalize drug use?
There are many groups affected by this issue. Since drug use is such a large problem, the public overall has an interest. Government agencies in charge of stopping drug use are affected since policy dictates the tools they can use