Punishment or Treatment
The Globalization of US Drug Enforcement written by Matthew R. Pembleton explores the history and evolution of drug enforcement policies in the United States and how these policies have influenced drug enforcement globally. One of the most striking features of drug enforcement policies in the United States is the emphasis on punishment over treatment. The American government has consistently prioritized punitive measures, such as incarceration and criminal prosecution, over treatment and rehabilitation programs. There are lots of reasons for that, but in my opinion, the most important reason is money.
Pembleton thinks the globalization of US drug enforcement leads to lots of negative consequences such as increased violence, human rights abuses, and the militarization of law
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government provides help to drug addicts, such as helping them find jobs and providing them with housing, instead of locking them up or punishing them, the cost of drug control in the United States will increase significantly. The most important reason for taking punishment is that the US government does not expect to gain economic benefits and support by providing help to drug addicts. On the contrary, they want to spend the least amount of money to reduce drug trade as effectively as possible. Let's imagine that when the US government punishes drug addicts, they only need to build a prison to isolate drug addicts, and hire some prison guards to watch them until they no longer crave drugs, or simply fine drug addicts. These are the most effective and cheapest means of arresting drugs. But if the government wants to help drug addicts, they must not only provide drug addicts with medical services, but also provide them with housing and jobs that can sustain them. These methods are not only expensive, but may also affect the overall American society, because providing jobs for these people means that some normal people will lose their job
Most people in the United States each year go the prison and keep there for non-violent crime, such as drug related offenses. This issue has affected many family’s life for many years and caused the prisoners to deprive from many of their rights. Lacking the appropriate policies for keeping drug related offenses in prison has been a public health crisis and created a new addiction, like penchant for locking people up in prison. The author in this article “prison addiction: why mass incarceration policies must change.” discusses about lacking the appropriate policies for incarceration for non-violent drug related offenses.
The creation of drug courts has had many positive effects on millions of lives and has helped with keeping certain familiar faces out of court. Though due to are countries fiscal crisis many programs have been cut or expansion has ceased. The criminal justice systems cost roughly 70 billion annual on the corrections system which is because of over reliance on incarceration. Instead of spending so much to increate people the courts could be sending them to reform programs that end
Due to the fact that drug courts are working to reduce crime, the policies and practices of the US government may have to be changed or strengthened in favor of drug courts. For example, in the Journal Do Drug Courts Work? Getting Inside the Drug Court Black Box (Goldkamp, White, Robinson, 2001), the authors say “Nevertheless, these findings also suggest that variation in drug court out comes may be explained by changes in the operation of the drug court and its ability to deliver the treatment and deterrent effects postulated by the collection of components inside the drug court black box”. This clearly shows that in order for drug courts to work and grow in numbers, changes in policies and procedures that are shown to reduce crime need to be implemented everywhere. Weaknesses that can be found in this summary are that all active drug courts in the US did not respond, which could lead to a very different outcome involving the effectiveness of drug courts as a
The purpose of this literature review is to prove that drug court programs are an effective alternative to incarceration for people struggling with substance abuse issues. According to the Bureau of Justice statistics seventeen percent of prisoners at the state level were incarcerated due to drug related crimes. Eighteen percent of federal cases were related to drugs (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2004). According to Lutze and Van Wormer the drug court model was formulated in response to the revolving cycle involved with substance addiction and crime.
Lives are dramatically impacted by this issue. Addiction to any substance is very powerful, with many ending up jobless, homeless, or in debt to pursue their addiction. Stronger addiction has the power to do this as the substance is of higher necessity than basic survival, such as food and shelter. It is extremely easy to gain access to drugs, with many prescription drugs often being sold for profit. The manufacturing of illegal drugs has also grown in recent decades.
The main issue when it comes to drugs in the United States is the inefficient policies and sentencing laws that have been created. Also, the injustices within these policies pertaining primarily to race. Once the “war on drugs” was claimed the only way the government and law enforcement saw fit to handling this skyrocketing issue was to incarcerate offenders. Although this solution worked for a while, other alternatives needed to be made. However, these alternatives were not made and this left the drug policies, sentencing laws, and injustices at a standstill.
In the 1970s the United States entered the era known as mass incarceration, the byproduct of the drug war. The War on Drugs changed how society handled drug dependency, diverting the problem from public health to criminal justice. Since the Nixon administration, the political stance on being tough on crime has resulted in various laws and policing practices that heavily criminalized drugs to point in which the prison population in the United States increased from 300,000 people in 1972 to 2.3 million today (Barish, DuVernay, Averick & DuVernay, 2016). The epidemic of mass incarceration corresponds to a variety of public health issues such as mental illness, increased violence within society, increased incidence of addictions, and increased incidence of chronic illnesses (Drucker, 2013).
As of September 26, 2015, there is a total of 93,821 inmates in prison for drug offenses, which is equivalent to 48.4 percent of the prison population. The use of illegal narcotics has been an issue within the country for decades; however, is incarceration the way to solve this problem? I think not. During the late 1960’s, poverty was a substantial issue within urban cities and secluded rural areas. On the other hand, recreational drug usage promoted by fashionable young, white Americans as a symbol of social upheaval and youthful rebellion coincided with the deprivation within many of these areas.
Addison Hicks Ms. Duke CA III/W3 27 February 2023 American Punishment: Rehabilitation Substitutes Incarceration A person whose life falls victim to the ongoing problem of substance abuse dwindles down into the hands of the state, thus deciding an individual’s punishment. Each year, more than 20 million people suffer from the use of drugs. Whether these be cocaine, heroin, LSD, marijuana, methamphetamine, or nicotine. The majority of these offenders end up in places such as prisons, leading to the issue of overcrowding.
For example, agencies have been established with the sole intent to manage drug use and distribution and technology has been exclusively developed to detect the presence of drugs. Yet, evidence has indicated that such exhaustive efforts have been relatively unsuccessful. First, it has been assumed that drugs have perpetuated violence in society and based on this rationale, it was believed that by the suppressing the pervasiveness of drugs that incidents of violence would simultaneously diminish. However, reality has failed to align with the expectations that had initially been anticipated. Research findings have suggested that the decriminalization of drugs would result in a less adversarial drug market in which conflicts have tended to arise among dealers as well as between dealers and buyers (Common Sense for Drug Policy, 2007, p. 21).
Many people believe that addicts should be in jail to pay for their criminal behavior, but this is the last thing that will aid them into becoming healthy and operational citizens. The addicts who are convicted of criminal charges should not be incarcerated while under the influence of drugs, as they focus primarily on penalizing and discipline; they should instead be sent into rehabilitation in order to prepare them to be functioning
In his article, “Toward a Policy on Drugs,” Elliot Currie discusses “the magnitude and severity of our drug crisis” (para. 21), and how “no other country has anything resembling the American drug problem” (para. 21). The best way to describe America’s drug problem is that it is a hole continuously digs itself deeper. America’s drug issues were likely comparable to other country’s at one point in time, but today it can be blamed on the “street cultures” (para. 21) that continue to use and spread the use of illegal drugs. These street cultures transcend the common stereotype of drug users, such as low income communities in cities or welfare recipients, and can be found in every economic class and location. They are groups of people who have
The continuous use of narcotics results in addiction, and financial struggles due to the costly upkeep. “Financial problems are one of the major side effects of drug and substance abuse” (Buaggett, 2015). Addicts cannot adequately take an active role in the economic activities, as the use of drugs inhibits the abilities of the users to earn a daily living. Due to the instability of finances, this would result in selling personal belongings to continue funding the substance of choice, and depending on the addicts living situation, this could lead to losing their house or being removed from their current housing. While being under the influence, an addicts voice of reason is jeopardized, resulting in criminal activities which raise the chances of being apprehended by the law enforcers, as well as, heavy fines are imposed.
6: After that the prison are making their own profit. 7: After that United State has second largest prisoners to citizen ratio in the world. 8: Finally, author compares the white Americans and Africans people booked in the drugs abuse crime. 9: He states that, Americans and Africans are much higher percent drugs abuse violation that can reduce rehabilitation, education, and poverties. 1: I disagree on the author point of view that there should be minimum sentences, because this will send wrong massage to drug addict people.
As of recent, the war on drugs has been a very often discussed topic due to many controversial issues. Some people believe the War on Drugs has been quite successful due to the amount of drugs seized and the amount of drug kingpins arrested. I believe this to be the wrong mindset when it comes to the war on drugs. The war on drugs isn’t a winnable one so we must do all that is possible to assist those who struggle with drug addiction and decriminalize small amounts of drugs. These minor changes in the way we combat drugs will create significant change and have lasting effects.