Patterns of Writing - Evaluation:

Below is an introductory paragraph which introduces the subject
and states the writer’s thesis statement:

What to Do With Our Addiction Problem: Waging Peace on Drugs
by Tom Dworetzky

          People from the entire political spectrum are calling for the legalization of drugs.  Others argue that it’s both immoral and absurd to legalize substances that are destroying not only individuals, but communities—and that we should “crack down” harder.  No question that drug addition is the immediate social problem today.  The plight of junkies’ ruined lives and ‘hoods creates its own cancerous underground economy—and nourishes a thriving overground economy we can hardly afford: beefed-up police forces, overcrowded prisons, and understaffed health-care facilities.  The stalemated debate on legalization focuses on the wrong thing: whether by legalizing drugs, we thus condone them.  This is a false issue.  Drugs are bad; no argument.  But in truth, the war on drugs is a losing proposition.