(Opinion) The U.S. should decriminalize drugs

“While it’s unclear that decriminalization will have the same effects on the U.S. as it did in Portugal, we still need to strive to move toward it if only to reverse the damages of the ‘War on Drugs’. With 23 states having legalized medical marijuana, nine having outright legalization with Gallup indicating a 60 percent approval rating on the matter, the government needs to at least decriminalize marijuana usage. Yet, without moving toward the overall decriminalization of drug usage, we may not be able to efficiently tackle the determinate factors of poverty and a fractured criminal justice system.”