Why decriminalize the drug epidemic in the United States? The reason behind is not simple
When it comes to the unrestrained spread of drugs, many people first think of the United States.
Drugs have always been a big problem in the United States, and not long ago it was even reported that the number of people using ** in the United States exceeded the number of smokers for the first time, which is shocking. The more the drug problem in the United States was cracked down, the more rampant it became, and the situation got out of control for a time.
Under such a crisis, the United States has launched a large-scale drug decriminalization campaign, why is this? To understand all this, we need to go back to the 70s of the last century.
1. Prelude: The Prototype of the New Policy In fact, contrary to popular belief, the United States did not let drugs go unchecked from the beginning. Before the drug epidemic, the United States had tried to control it at that time, especially **.
In the U.S. drug classification, ** is classified as a "soft" drug, while *** and cocaine are classified as "hard" drugs.
However, as early as 1970, the "Comprehensive Drug Abuse and Control Act" passed by the United States ** imposed a very severe penalty on possession, almost equivalent to the possession of hard drugs, and the maximum sentence reached 40 years!
However, this is only the surface, and the law is always slower than social change. In fact, at that time, the attitude of the United States and the people towards ** was changing.
The perception of ** has changed in society, mainly thanks to the rise of the middle class.
In the past, it was seen as a symbol of rebellion, often associated with minorities and jazz musicians, and these marginalized groups made it dangerous to label.
However, with the development of the economy, the middle class also began to come into contact with this novel drug, and ** turned into a symbol of "fashion".
Young people of the middle class have become enthusiastic advocates of the **. According to statistics, by the late 1970s, nearly half of the middle-class young people aged 18 to 25 in the United States had smoked**!
In order to change the public's perception of **, these young people even organized a large number of marching groups, running to all corners of the United States, shouting loudly, demanding **reform of ** related laws. Gradually, many Americans have reversed their beliefs and come to believe that ** is not what they think is dangerous.
At the same time, ** as a medicine, it also plays an important role in modern medicine, adding strong support to the "de-demonization" advocated by middle-class youth.
This social upheaval eventually reached the ** level, and many states began to change their laws to reduce the penalties for the crime of possession. In just a few years, the original severe punishment for ** crimes has been reduced to up to seven years in prison, and some have even abolished detention and only fined $100 to $200.
The call for a redefinition of ** is in fact a call to change the strict drug policy of the United States. At that time, it was during the Nixon administration, and the power of this turmoil was even beyond his imagination.
Here, it is necessary to mention a key organization, the National ** Committee. This organization is closely related to the National Reform Law Organization, which was founded in 1971 and was founded by several Georgetown University law school graduates.
After absorbing their recommendations, the National Committee submitted a report to the White House in 1972 with the intention of changing the official positioning of the National Committee.
Nixon was surprised to see the report. The report points out that after medical experiments, unless used in large quantities or for a long time, ** will not cause physical and psychological harm to the human body. Therefore, they called for no penalties for possession of small amounts.
However, in the end, this report failed to gain support. Nixon vehemently rejected the findings, but it was the beginning of another storm. Negative is the importance of the problem, the civil debate about ** has long become the focus, people began to pay attention to how to look at **.
At the beginning of the debate, most Americans still had a negative impression of **. More than 53% of people believe that it is harmful, reduces people's creativity, and makes people detached from reality. However, despite their negative views of **, these people are also beginning to admit that ** is not the "killing grass" that they used to imagine.
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