Violence stemming from drug-trade disputes has become an international problem. The onset of the AIDS in the 1980s hit addicts who injected illegal drugs particularity hard since the virus it passed through bodily fluids. Some governments were moved to initiate needle exchange programs in part because "slowing the spread of a fatal disease for which no cure exists was the greater moral imperative" (Nadelmann, 1998, p. 115).
Practically speaking the cost of exchanging needles is considerably less than the expense of treating patients with the AIDS virus. Nonetheless, exchange programs in this country have been held back by political issues and moral judgments.
Conclusion
If we were to muster the political and moral courage to reexamine this issue in another light many of the problems that arise from drug abuse could be mitigated. If the use of drugs were to be decriminalized that would be a start. Steps taken to legalize drugs and regulate their sale would significantly reduce violence in this country and others as well as lessen costs related to law enforcement, prosecution, and the inevitable prison sentences that follow. The funds previously earmarked for enforcement could then be utilized for treatment programs. As long as the national will is set on treating drug abuse as a criminal issue instead of a medical issue little headway will be made to fix this problem.
References
Drug War Chronicle. (2005, October 28). Feature:...
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