ABSTRACT
Drugs are used in every society because they make people feel "high," another (albeit artificial) way of feeling good. Drug use is especially "high'' in the United States and other Western nations. But some drugs are illegal, which gives their use an aura of excitement and rebellion. And because they are illegal, they generate crime and violence, destroy neighborhoods, have inflated prices that attract people into the drug trade, preoccupy the police, and create clogged courts. These problems lead some observers to favor legalizing drugs because they believe the impact of prohibition is worse than the substances themselves.
