Should Drugs Be Legalized William Bennett Analysis

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First & Last Name: Abram Watson RDG 120 - Section#:512 Date 12/1/10 Claim In the article “Should Drugs Be Legalized?” by William J. Bennett, the claim is drugs should not be legalized because it would increase drug use, crime and ruin lives. Bennett refutes pro-legalizer’s arguments that the legalization of illicit drugs will 1) take the profit out of its sales and 2) dramatically reduce crime. In his opening remarks Bennett disagrees with those who favor legalization of drugs because they feel it is hopeless to fight against it. In paragraph 1 on page 7 he gives the key works” flawed, fatalistic ,hopeless and bankrupt the legislating” proponents use these arguments for legalizing various drugs. The claim is explicit.…show more content…
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan appointed him to head the National Endowment for the Humanities, where he served until Reagan appointed him Secretary of Education in 1985. In 1989 President George H.W. Bush appointed Bennett to be the first White House "drug czar." While William Bennett was the Drug czar under Bush, He was in charge of reducing the use of illegal drugs. He gave the drug legalization proponents arguments to legalize drugs versus the disadvantages to legalization. ( christianbook.com/the-book-of-virtues/william-bennett/9780684835778/pd/35770) The article “Should Drugs Be Legalized?” first appeared in “Readers Digest” in March of 1990. The article was intended for people who believe drugs should be legalized. By looking at Bennett’s word choice exp on page 7 “In fact, Dr. Herbert D. Kleber of Yale University, my deputy in charge of demand reduction, predicts legalization might cause “a five- to-six fold increase” in cocaine use. But legalizers regard this as a nec- essary price for the “benefits” of legalization. What benefits? 1. Legalization will take the profit out of drugs. “The result supposedly will be the end of criminal drug pushers” hes trying to convince his readers suggesting it’s geared towards…show more content…
We pay in the loss of a priceless social currency as families are destroyed, trust between friends is betrayed, and promising careers are never fulfilled. I cannot imagine sanctioning behavior that would increase that toll” He expresses the same tone on page 10. He answered another statement “Drugs use should be legal since users only harm themselves.” By stating “those who believe this should stand by the medical exam miner as he counts the 36 bullet wounds in the shatterered corpse of a three-year old who happened to get in the way of his mothers drug-crazed boyfriend. It seems Bennett is confident he is right and that he doesn’t even consider being fair-minded in some of his

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