Outlines
In what follows, we will outline each of the texts in the source material, pointing out the various aspects and opinions concerning the topic of legalising drugs.
War on drugs a trillion-dollar failure
Author: Richard Branson (CNN)
Genre: Video
Year of Publication: 2012
The video is an interview with Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, and a member of the Global Drug Commission.
The video begins with images from the documentary “Breaking the Taboo”, narrated by actor Morgan Freeman and produced by Branson's son. An excerpt from an interview with Bill Clinton is showed. The former US president believes that legalising tobacco has prevented many possible fights and that the same thing might happen if drugs are legalised. According to Clinton, the war on drugs has led to many deaths without solving the problem.
Ruth Dreifuss, former president of Switzerland, argues that the war on drugs is a war against people who might want to grow other plants (other than those used to make drugs) but who have no other options.
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Drugs and the Adolescent Brain: A Conversation with Nora Volkow, M.D. Part 1
Author: The SAMA Foundation
Genre: Video
Year of Publication: 2010
The video presents an interview with Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, on the effects of drug use on teenagers and adults.
According to Volkow, alcohol and other drugs are more dangerous to teenagers because their brains are not fully formed, and the cortex in the teenage brain is not as strong as in adults.
As a result, adolescents’ response to alcohol intoxication is more emotional and more intense, and the same is true when they take drugs. The brain is more reactive to the chemicals that drugs contain.
She describes what happens in the brain when people use alcohol and drugs. The common effect of drugs is the increase in dopamine level which is connected to our rewards system.
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David Cameron - Legalising Marijuana
Author: Al Jazeera
Genre: Video
Year of Publication: 2011
The video represents a section from an interview with David Cameron conducted by a journalist from Al Jazeera.
In this section, David Cameron—who was the British Prime Minister at the time—expresses his opinion on legalising drugs.
One of the messages received from an Al Jazeera viewer, claimed that tobacco and alcohol are more dangerous than marijuana but are both legal and controllable. In this context, the viewer asks whether education is not a better solution to drug abuse.
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100 years of the war on drugs
Author: Tom de Castella (BBC News)
Genre: Article
Year of Publication: 2012
The article “100 years of the war on drugs” published on the BBC News website in 2012 offers a review of the attitudes towards drugs in Britain and the US across history.
The first international treaty against drugs was signed in 1912 and now most nations join efforts to fight the illegal drugs trade. But, at the time of the treaty signing the US and the UK had different positions. The US was then, as it is now, strongly against drugs. The UK had a more equivocal position. This is because, at that time, alcohol abuse was considered a bigger problem than drugs in British society.
The history of drug use reveals that in Britain, drug use was legal in the 18th and 19th centuries. The most popular drug was opium and then cocaine. During this time opium shipments were something very normal, the drug being traded alongside other common goods. Opium mostly came from today’s Izmir and its use in the UK was widespread. Traces of opium could even be found in beer because it was used to avoid malaria from spreading.
Political figures like Queen Victoria, Winston Churchill, and William Gladstone are also said to have been occasional opium consumers.
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