Last semester I took a health class and I took American Government. In both classes, the professors did a lecture on drugs. In the health class, the focus was on how bad illegal drugs were and the top 20 worst drugs on the planet. I definitely learned a lot about drugs I didn't even know existed. I also learned that Marijuana doesn't have major side affects like some of the more serious drugs such as cocaine and heroin, yet it is still advertised as deadly. In that class, I also learned that there is a focus on looking down on people who do "illegal" drugs and not so much on people who abuse prescription drugs. Those addicted to illegal drugs are seen as unstable and unpredictable in our society. On the other hand, in my government class my professor focused on government involvement in relation to ALL drugs. The amount of unbiased information I learned in that class was incredible. I had no idea, prior to taking that class, that our government was so involved in the illegal drug market. I was completely unaware that in many instances we funded countries to grow illegal drugs only to mask it with "the war on drugs" facade. 


Despite of my personal view on the war on drugs, the fact of the matter is that people in our society have trouble with addiction. Despite of who supplies cash for the drugs, despite of who distributes the drugs, and despite of who gets the blame for drug trafficking; the important factor here is that our society should not be so harsh on individuals who are suffering from addiction. How do individuals who need help with their addiction get the help they need from a society with a focus on "the war on drugs". The war on drugs is focused on advertising the "bad" in illegal drugs and focuses on discouraging people from using drugs. This same war on drugs has yet to fund a program for addicted individuals who need therapy. The war on drugs preaches that drugs are bad but does nothing other than voice the drug's "evil" doings. Why don't they focus on helping people overcome their addictions if they truly want illegal drugs off the streets? Wouldn't it make more sense to help individuals dealing with addiction to prevent them from using drugs, than doing absolutely nothing about it? 


I also find it comical that the same people who are behind the war on drugs are the ones receiving a cut from pharmaceutical companies-our government. Despite that our government likes to just preach on illegal drugs and do very little, if anything at all, in regards to helping people in society overcome addiction, they also promote using legal drugs. I understand that legal drugs are made for medical purposes, despite of the million horrendous side effects each drug can potentially have, and that illegal drugs have no benefit to them. I think what our society fails to identify, perhaps because the government wants people to forget, that both types of drugs have significant physiological changes in the brain with prolonged used. what is the difference between a person becoming addicted to pain medication or becoming addicted to cocaine? they both have the potential to cause death, create dependence, cause severe depression, etc. Whether a person is addicted to a legal or illegal drugs, the fact of the matter is that  individuals suffering from addiction need help. If the government is so concerned about ending the drug usage in our society, then how about using the billions of dollars it spends yearly on a useless campaign against the drugs they supply, and instead use those billions of dollars toward the recuperation of individuals suffering from addiction? Now there's an idea!