Assignment 21 Garrett Peavler

    The problem that I would like to solve is the drug abuse problem that plagues many communities that society tends to forget about. And, while it may seem counter-intuitive, the best way to deal with this problem is to legalize the drugs that are commonly abused. Now, when someone says they support legalizing drugs, it tends to be the kind of statement that silences rooms, as all the "upstanding" and "good-natured" citizens look on and listen in quiet judgment. I ask you to bear with me and hear me out before you make that judgment. 

    When I say that I support the legalization of drugs, I don't mean it in the hippie sort of way that most people assume. I don't support it so that a bunch of rowdy teenagers can have irresponsible fun legally.  I support it because of the lives that it could save. In fact, I don't even believe that drugs should be legalized for average people, only those who have developed a dependency; I want to solve the concrete problem of overdoses, not the moral dilemma of whether or not drugs should be normalized. Legalizing drugs would decrease overdoses, as the government would be able to control the outflow of these drugs, so someone who is addicted can get just the amount needed to keep them from withdrawal while they receive the help they need; help that would be easier to administer if those who are suffering from addiction come right to an organization that seeks to help them, instead of a street dealer seeking to make a profit. 

    Many people speak against this because they feel that the system would be abused by money-hungry people. My response to this? Of course, the system would be abused! But the point is that people with addiction would have a legal, organized place to get these drugs, which would keep them from overdosing, winding up in prison, or getting a disease from unclean needles. People who want drugs are going to get them. Legally or illegally. All we can do is make it safer and stop the needless waste of life that comes from an overdose.

    I have been to the funeral of someone who died of an overdose, and it is the most heartbreaking thing you will ever see. Not only do people who overdose tend to have an early death, but the last image their family gets of them is a disturbing, discolored body. A ghost of the person they once loved. When it comes down to it, people who have an addiction are not hardened criminals; unworthy of salvation. They have families and children who love them, and they should not be brushed aside and left for dead because of the mistakes they have made. Mistakes that, if given the chance, they would take back in a heartbeat.