Illegal Drug Use in Vietnam War Essay

During the Vietnam War, American soldiers and officials used unratified drugs such as marijuana, heroin and opium to release stress from war and to pull down the pain of an injury. The uses of narcotics were non strictly monitored and were sold at low prices change magnitude the amount of custom. The use of illicit drugs may have also resulted in some sexual assaults that direct to children with mixed nationalities. Before the Americans came into Vietnam, drug laws were not well determined and people did not use dope as much. However, soon after the Vietnam War started, most soldiers and citizens dramatically started using narcotics, largely marijuana. Marijuana was available all over the country and this type of drug was a convenient crop to produce although it was an illegal act.Marijuana usage in Vietnam was far more widespread than it was in the United States and was trashy since it does not have to be imported from a foreign country. However, the southeast Vietnamese Government tried to tighten its policies so that it will be harder to obtain. In about 1970, the North and South Vietnam militaries pressured the soldiers to reduce the use of marijuana. This led to soldiers smuggling narcotics and wanting a refined kind of drug that could not be noticed easily. When heroin was first introduced, people hid it in their cigarettes and consumed by smoking. This highly addictive drug became very popular in Vietnam and was consumed a lot. Statistics and army records show that about 50% of the soldiers and officials had used either heroin or opium during the war.