Drugs in America

Illegal drugs have always been a major foundation in American history. This topic of public opinion is nothing new. According to Gallup, recently Americans have began to come together on debate of whether the United States is doing enough to cope with the use of illegal drugs. This is the closest the numbers have been (34%) since the early 1970's. Since the beginning of the new millenium, about one-in-three Americans have felt that drugs have become an extremely serious problem. This percentage has stayed primarily the same throughout the past 10 years.

What I found most interesting about the Gallup Polls is the increasing number of people who think marijuana should be made legal. All the way back in 1969 only 12% of the American general public believed in the legalizion of marijuana. As recently as October of 2009 that number has already grown to 44% of Americans, and looks to be continuing to rise. Could this be because we live in a more "laid back" society? Could it be a that society is "revolting" against the government? These 44% of people could also be part of the 42% who would like to see a tax put on marijuana in order to make it safe and legal. What the Gallup Polls have showed me is that Americans views on drugs are constantly changing. If anything, it goes to show that no two people have the same feelings about illegal drugs in modern day American culture.

(Information from Gallup)
http://www.gallup.com/poll/1657/Illegal-Drugs.aspx

POL 312 Introductions

Hello!

Tim with the Stanley Cup at Pub II. August 21, 2010.

My name is Tim Gregory and I am currently a Senior at Illinois State University. I will be graduating in December and heading out into the "real world." I am majoring in Political Science with a minor in Business Administration. I still am unsure on what I would like to do after college, so suggestions are always welcome! I think of myself as an outgoing person who enjoys sports, being outside, vacationing, tailgating and hanging out with my friends and family.

I will be focusing this blog on the topic of illegal drugs and steroids in specific. As I stated previously, I have always been involved in playing sports as well as lifting weights. Being involved in sports I have seen and heard of teammates of mine experimenting with steroids and other types of performance enhancing drugs. Also, with all of the media coverage major league athletes have been recieving regarding PED's I believe this topic will have many different public opinions. I look forward to this semester and learning more about the public's opinion on steriods.