高级听力 Unit 9 Part 1

本篇主要围绕美国毒品合法化展开，反对派如何思考问题，赞成派如何思考问题。

Illegal Drugs in the US

Opinion polls have shown that Americans view the widespread use of illegal drugs as the number one problem in the United States. Every year the United States spends $15 billion on its war on drugs, mostly on the cost of law enforcement and prohibition. Most illegal drugs are expensive. Black market prices for heroin and cocaine, for example, are estimated to be 100 times greater than the cost of production. With such price, drug pushers can earn billions of dollars each year by pushing their wares in even the poorest neighborhoods. Most people agree that the so-called drug war is far from being won the United States. They must find solutions to the drug problem.

One repeated proposal is to fight the problem by making drugs legal. This proposal has, in fact, been the cause of a lengthy, unresolved debate. Ever since the 1970s, American have argued whether taking the extreme measure of legalizing drugs would, in fact, decrease drug use. People who support this proposal believe that the current policies of prosecution and punishment are a waste of money. They feel that more money should be spent on education and treatment, arguing that the black market drives the prices of drugs too high, providing an incentive to get into the drug business. They point to the gangsters of the 1920s and 1930s, who disappeared with the end of prohibition of alcohol in America. As it is now, they say, anyone who is caught using drugs is treated as criminal, not as an addict who needs help. This proposal for legalization has been supported by a variety of leaders, from the most conservative to the most liberal, from secretaries of state to federal and district judges who advocate the sale of drugs at prices resembling their costs.

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