A Heated Debate Has Taken Place Over the Question: Is Selling Drugs A Violent Crime?

President Obama caused quite a stir and a debate last week when he told 46 convicted felons, some which were serving life, they would soon be set free. So what is the debate over? Is selling drugs a violent crime or not?

Most people without thinking about the question in depth would say no, selling drugs is not a violent crime, just an illegal one. This is exactly what the president did. He told these 46 convicted felons and the nation that these men were non-violent and that their sentences did not match the crime they committed.

With so many opinions on this matter, how do we come to an agreement on the question, Is selling drugs a violent crime? Yes, selling drugs is a transaction, an illegal transaction, but when you look further into the situation there is a lot of violence behind these illegal transactions.

Drugs have killed millions of Americans and while you can sit there and say it was their choice to use the drugs, you have to again look further into the situation. Yes, it is their choice to use and abuse drugs, but in most cases, there is more to the story than just a choice. Many people suffering from drug addiction and abuse have underlying problems that lead them to abuse drugs. Many of these people suffer from mental illnesses or are dealing with some sort of abuse. Once again, not all addicts are like this. When you look at the question from this perspective, these drug dealers are preying on the weak and mentally ill to earn their money. They get these people in vulnerable situations to cave and abuse the drug they are selling as an escape.

Here lies the next issue: What about alcohol? Why is selling drugs a violent crime and selling alcohol is not? Alcohol is also a drug and also kills many people every year. How is the line drawn when it comes to what is safe and what is not safe? Some people claim that alcohol is not as dangerous as hard drugs, but it can claim just as many, if not more lives than hard drugs. Some even say that abusing hard drugs just once can kill a person, while this is true, so can alcohol. People die every year from alcohol poisoning.

Both sides have very valid claims, so how do we pick what is right and what is wrong? Apparently, the president has picked it for us. These drug dealers have killed millions of people indirectly, what is going to stop them from going back out on the streets and continuing to do the same thing? Maybe the president would view this situation differently if one of his daughters were killed from abusing drugs or even killed by someone who was abusing drugs. Unfortunately, we do not come to an agreement on this issue, which leaves a lot of people unhappy.