What are the social effects of dangerous drugs on communities and the criminal justice system? We as a society have this ability to have to label all things, good and bad. If we didn't do this we wouldn't be able to live with ourselves. Just kidding, what I really mean is that all we hear on the news or read in the papers is how messed up society really is. How serious is the drug problem. First of all, what are dangerous drugs? Drugs are chemicals that change the way a person's body works. You've probably heard that drugs are bad, but what does that mean and why are they bad? If you've ever gotten sick and needed to take medicine, you already know one type of medication. Medicines are legal drugs, which means doctors can prescribe them to patients, shops can sell them and people can buy them. But it is not legal, or safe, for people to use these medicines as they want or buy them from people who sell them illegally, however cigarettes and alcohol are two other types of legal drugs. (In the United States, those 18 and older can purchase cigarettes, and those 21 and older can purchase alcohol.) Alcohol and tobacco are still legal but very dangerous because they are big business. Listing them as dangerous would mean the collapse of two very large industries that not only employ millions of workers, but bring in millions of dollars to a few very powerful people. In other words, the sale of tobacco and alcohol generates additional millions in tax revenue for governments. (http://drbenkim.com). Tobacco is nothing compared to alcohol. To get seriously ill from smoking, you need to smoke a lot and probably for years. To completely destroy oneself or someone else (death), or to cause the most unspeakable social and emotional events... middle of paper... provide a useful indicator of the presence of a drug, but are also used by field investigators to examine materials suspected of containing a drug. There are five primary color tests. There's the Marquis, who turns purple in the presence of heroin and morphine. Marquis also turns orange-brown when mixed with methamphetamine and amphetamine. Then there is Dillie-Koppanyi which turns purple-blue in the presence of barbiturates. However, Duquenois-Levine turns purple in the presence of marijuana. Then the Van Urk test which turns blue-purple in the presence of LSD. The last primary color test is the Scott Test which turns pink in the presence of cocaine. There are many organizations formed to try to help with this disease. It is very difficult to beat addiction, but it is possible with determination, willpower and the desire to want to stop.