The legalisation of drugs (Class C) will benefit society as a whole by reducing crime - Essay Example

Several countries throughout the world are working to decriminalize or legalise less harmful drugs such as marijuana, currently classified as a Class C drug, as a means of addressing the growing problem of the war on drugs. Rather than providing the United States and other countries with the elimination of undesirable drugs as was anticipated, the war on drugs has instead served to heighten violence, contribute to the development of organised crime, fill the prison system past capacity, consume large amounts of capital and has still had very little effect on the availability of these drugs or the numbers of individuals who use them.

It has been suggested, and in some cases demonstrated, that legalizing or at least decriminalizing less harmful drugs, such as marijuana, can help to reduce the violence, significantly decrease the numbers of people incarcerated for drug use, allow more individuals to remain a contributing member of society and free up funds and manpower to combat against more harmful substances. To understand these various effects, this paper seeks to evaluate the available literature on the topic, comparing instances such as the Netherlands and England, where marijuana has been decriminalized and regulated to some degree, examine the economic theory that led to the development of the war on drugs as well as its effectiveness and net results and finally explore the types of crime that have been associated with drug trafficking and possible alternative measures to address some of these related concerns without actually legalizing marijuana.

Current trends in public opinion suggest a growing interest in the decriminalization of Class C drugs, such as marijuana, as an alternative approach from the war on drugs that has proven ineffective.