Source: People’s Daily
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Recently, a U.S. Coast Guard speedboat unloaded 32 tons of seized drugs, including cocaine and marijuana, at a Florida port. According to reports, the drugs would be worth more than $1 billion if they found their way to the black market.
The United States is the world’s largest consumer of drugs. Data shows that more than 50 million Americans have used drugs or abused psychotropic substances in the past year. The analysis believes that the proliferation of drugs in the United States is a reflection of deep-seated problems in society, and it is the result of the combined effects of political systems, economic interests, and social and cultural factors.
“Legislation to legalize marijuana across the U.S. could be a disaster”, leading to activities by international drug cartels Legalization
—some US lawmakers
The U.S. House of Representatives voted on April 1 to pass a bill to legalize marijuana nationwide and remove long-standing criminal penalties for possession or distribution. Next, the U.S. Senate will vote on the bill. Public opinion believes that there are still many obstacles to the bill eventually becoming law, but the move by the House of Representatives means that the United States has taken another key step towards legalizing marijuana.
In recent years, the United States has gone further and further along the road of legalizing and decriminalizing drugs. As of June 2021, 18 U.S. states have legalized non-medical marijuana, and 13 states have reduced criminal penalties for non-medical marijuana. In February 2021, Oregon became the first state in the United States to decriminalize the possession of “hard drugs” such as heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine. People possess less than 1 gram of heroin or ecstasy and less than 2 grams of cocaine or methamphetamine. etc. will no longer be considered a crime and will be replaced by a $100 fine or a health assessment. Some drug addicts moved to Oregon to avoid legal punishment.
In November 2021, New York City became the first city in the U.S. to announce the establishment of a “safe place to consume drugs,” which would allow “people to work professionally. Drug use under the supervision and guidance of personnel”. In July 2021, Rhode Island passed a bill allowing drug addicts to use illegal drugs and drugs under the guidance of designated places and medical staff. In October, it announced the establishment of the nation’s first “drug injection center”. According to reports, Massachusetts, California and many other states are also considering similar approaches. U.S. Department of Health Secretary Becerra said that the federal government will not obstruct similar plans by states.
The US “Forbes” magazine website published an article that some US lawmakers pointed out that “legislation to legalize marijuana across the United States may cause A disaster”, leading to the legalization of activities carried out by international drug cartels. Many experts believe that after the legalization of marijuana, a more deceptive entry-level drug, it is easier for teenagers to obtain and use it, which makes it more likely to become addicted to drugs and cause serious social problems.
“The growing drug problem in the United States is hard to reverse” because “the drug network and addiction have become part of the community, which It won’t go away overnight”
—Associate Professor, Columbia University School of Public Health span>
Catherine Keyes
“America’s drug problem is heading in the wrong direction,” the CNN article pointed out. Katherine Keyes, an associate professor at Columbia University’s School of Public Health, said the “increasing trend of drug abuse in the United States is difficult to reverse” because “drug sales networks and addiction have become part of the community, and this will not disappear overnight.”
According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics, 31.9 million of the approximately 280 million Americans age 12 and older have Have used drugs or abused psychotropic substances within 30 days, and more than 50 million people have used drugs or abused psychotropic substances in the past year. About 104,000 Americans died from drug use between September 2020 and September 2021, up from 52,000 in 2015.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the number of U.S. office workers testing positive for drugs in urine hit a 20-year high, an increase from 2020 8% or more.
“The drug epidemic in the U.S. is more deadly than ever.” Raw new drugs are in vogue. Data show that in 2020, more than 60% of drug overdose deaths are related to the opioid fentanyl. Drug dealers are mixing traditional drugs with fentanyl to create new, more toxic and more harmful drugs, exacerbating the drug epidemic.
“Deaths of Despair” including drug overdose are increasing in the US, “This is not only a health crisis, it is a serious “Social Crisis”
—a Brookings Institution Fellow p>
Carol Graham
The proliferation of drugs in the United States has brought a series of social problems, such as family crisis, violent crime, increased intergenerational poverty, increased racial discrimination, and psychological trauma of children, which seriously impacted American society and became an incurable “American disease”.
Experts pointed out that the proliferation of drugs in the United States is a reflection of deep-seated problems in society, and is the result of the combined effects of political systems, economic interests, and social and cultural factors.
The influence of interest groups cannot be underestimated. According to U.S. media reports, large U.S. pharmaceutical companies have invested a lot of money, subsidizing some experts and associations to sell the “opioid harmless theory”, and encouraging pharmacies to vigorously sell,Physicians are overprescribing drugs and pushing for the legalization of drugs, and some patients become addicted without knowing it. U.S. legal marijuana sales hit a record $17.5 billion in 2020, a 46% surge from 2019. “We don’t need to convince people to believe in marijuana, we need to convince them to buy it legally,” said Cory Rothschild, vice president of a U.S. cannabis company.
American Medical Association Board Chairman Bobby Mukamara called on the U.S. government to take action to change the laws that lead to drug abuse.