War on Drugs in America

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Alexandria Cooker
Professor James
November 9, 2012
Essay 4 Michael Huemer: “America’s Unjust Drug War” In the essay “America’s Unjust Drug War” by Michael Huemer, Huemer discusses the facts and opinions around the subject on whether or not the recreational use of drugs should be banned by law. Huemer believes that the American government should not prohibit the use of drugs. He brings up the point on drugs and how they harm the users and the people in the user’s life; he proves that the prohibition on drugs in unjust. Huemer believes that drug prohibition is an injustice to Americans’ natural rights and questions why people can persucute those who do drugs. The most prominent argument against the use of drugs is the harm it has …show more content…

So a person can make any choice as what they can do to their body, harmful or not. An example of this can be seen in the woman’s right to have or not have an abortion. Some people believe it is the woman’s choice because it is her body but others believe she should not be allowed to because it hurts the fetus, which is potentially a live human. Most people support the belief that people have the right to choose what the do to their body however with this right you may not use their body to harm others. Prohibitionists argue that drug use is not ones right over their body because the drugs are making the choices and not the person freely, maybe it is not their fault they have abused drugs it could have been psychological compulsion or something similar. It is still unjust to persecute these people because they are not morally responsible for that choice. However if users do freely decide to use drugs then they are exercising their rights and the government has no right to interfere. Overall Huemer looks at all the prohibitionists arguments that could be thought of and disproves their belief on the laws against drug use. Huemer believes it is a human right to choose to do drugs just as it is to eat whatever food you choose even if it makes you obese, or smoke as many cigarettes a day even though you will probably die, and the choice to have an abortion. With life you have many choices you can make

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