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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 10 page paper which examines the so-called ‘war on drugs’ from a sociological perspective to determine whether or not there is a legitimate drug problem in the United States. Bibliography lists 7 sources.
Page Count:
10 pages (~225 words per page)
File: TG15_TGwardrugs.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
it is a war in which nobody is winning and every member of society loses. But is this so-called problem of drugs really sufficient to warrant such a militaristic
stance that every year new prisons are being built to house inmates who simply smoked a marijuana cigarette with no intent to sell or distribute the substance? In other
words, is Americas war on drugs really the problem and dangerous threat to society it is portrayed to be, or is it evidence of something else altogether? First, when writing
about this topic, a student should keep in mind that sociologists and criminologists alike regard drugs as a major social problem. A social problem is defined as "any condition
that causes death or disease that shortens life expectancy or deteriorates the quality of life on a large scale" (Goode and Ben-Yehuda 151). It is typically viewed in objectivist
or functionalist terms, with objectivists contending that a social problem represents any type of "real, damaging, or threatening condition" that can endanger lives and functionalists labeling it as reflective of
some type of dysfunction rooted in some type of social conflict or aberration of conventional norms (Goode and Ben-Yehuda 151). But while drugs are regarded today as a social
problem that encompasses both objectivist and functionalist perspectives, it was not always viewed as a massive threat to the well being of American citizens. For example, marijuana has long
been a popular target of anti-drug crusaders, but back in 1930, there were only 16 of then 48 United States that had any laws making reference to the possession or
sale of marijuana as being a criminal offense, and in those states it was "relatively lax" in terms of enforcement (Goode and Ben-Yehuda 153). At the time, few Americans
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