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Summary Of Drugs Case For Legalizing Marijuana By Gore Vidal

469 Words2 Pages

In a 1970 article about drugs, narcotics, and the government, “Drugs: Case for Legalizing Marijuana”, Gore Vidal explores how the illegalization of marijuana has created the opposite effect of what the legislation has intended to do. Vidal’s explanation and reasoning behind this idea is not entirely associated with drug users and the population in general, but also has a strong link to monetary gains in government bureaus and large-scale mafias. These financial motive claims are supported by logical appeal and evidence.1 To begin, Vidal points out that, “both the Bureau of Narcotics and the Mafia want strong laws against the sale and use of drugs because if drugs are sold at cost there would be no money in it for anyone” (par. 10). This statement …show more content…

The money driven aspect is not necessarily an evil characteristic, but more of a phenomenon of capitalism. He claims that Americans are devoted to making money, not necessarily to promote the use of drugs, but simply based on pure monetary gain. “American people are as devoted to the idea of sin and its punishment as they are to making money--and fighting drugs is nearly as big a business as pushing them” (par. 12) states Vidal. The ones making the big bucks could care less about how drugs affect society, all they are worried about is if there is a good balance of fighting against drugs and pushing for drugs to keep the money flowing. He also suggests that the Americans seem somewhat confused when they want both justice against drugs as well revenue from the market. Furthermore, Vidal says “it seems most unlikely that any reasonably sane person will become a drug addict if he knows in advance what addiction is going to be like” (par.5). His view on the majority of America is that more people will recognize the damage that is done from drugs if all drugs are legalized. He also admits that the American people often forget important history, such as the great alcohol prohibition, and will go to far extents to achieve financial

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