The House I Live In - Essay Example

The House I Live In Just as any other in America, war on drugs in my continues to target the poor who are the minority with nobody to defend them. More and more young people who could contribute positively to growth and development are being arrested almost on a daily basis for drug-related offenses. There are issues of unemployment, poor access to quality health services and education. Most of the people who are arrested and serve jail terms are the breadwinners in their families and so when they are arrested such families are left stranded.

Domestic violence and family conflicts is a common problem. The initial step in addressing the drug abuse and drug trafficking problem is to engage the community. Community participation is key given that people themselves knows the genesis of the problem and how to solve. Another approach is to draft new antidrug policies that focus more on rehabilitation rather than punishment. The problem of drug abuse is medical. Addicted individuals do not use drugs because they love instead they use them because they no alternative.

As opposed to the past policies, the new policies must not stereotype anyone the law must treat all people equally regardless of the socio-economic status. The government must target the main drug dealers instead of just targeting the poor people who could be serving as transport agents and not the main drug barons. Enrolling drug abuse programs as part of the school curriculum and making it a core subject is another long-term strategy of helping our communities avoids too much expenditure on drugs.

Our communities would have been far much ahead in terms of economic growth and development if the money spent on drugs could have been invested in development projects. The state of road networks, railway lines and public utilities would be better today. Such large amounts of money would have ensured that every citizen has access to quality healthcare and education. Social workers are people who interact with the community members on a daily basis and understand problems that they undergo. They are the people who can inform the law enforcers on the exact drug dealers, not just their distributors, and they can also help in rehabilitating the drug dependents.

In the documentary, the issue of social class and identity has been clearly highlighted as a major problem that has been an impediment to the war against drugs. Social workers can help in identification of drug cartels and how to break them down. War on drugs has been a major failure because it has not achieved much other than arresting and detaining poor people who may not be the real drug dealers. The government spends a lot of money, but the outcome has been insignificant over the past years.

Personally, I have learned that the issue of drugs in U.S is more complex than people thought. It is not a problem that can be left to the government, law enforcers or specific individuals rather it requires a collective effort. War on drugs will only be won when everybody put some effort to end the vice. Legalizing drugs, adding more laws or even more enforcement will not help instead all the stakeholders should sit down and develop community-based policies formulated by the community members and are relevant to the local problems.

Apart from rehabilitation programs, the government must invest in education and sensitization programs in order to change people’s mindset. Finally, there is need for government to address issues that motivate people to enter into drugs. References Amazon.com: The House I Live In: FilmBuff: Amazon Instant Video [Video file]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/The-House-I-Live-In/dp/B00B19HFMK Jarecki, E., Barnes, J., Fraser, N., Glover, D., Legend, J., Pitt, B., . . . Virgil Films (Firm),. (2013). The house I live in.