Decriminalization Of The Criminal Justice System

Portugal's success would be the ideal model for Canada to base decriminalization of illicit drugs. Although Canada does not have as much of a drug epidemic that Portugal had before decriminalization, statistics show the country has rising rates of both heroin and meth use. Treating this evident problem with a different approach has been gathering heavy support over the years. Support behind this legal movement in Canada includes the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition and the Green Party of Canada. Not only were drugs decriminalized in Portugal, the entire system was reconstructed to aid those addicted. Both the reduce in law enforcement towards illicit drugs and the increase in funding towards treatment paid off greatly for Portugal. Overdose death went down by 72% while the spread of HIV went down by 94%. Canada has prioritized the war on drugs, although the method being followed does not prove effective. It might prove better to abandon this current war in favour for public health, following Portugal's lead in providing harm reduction treatment and treating the addiction as the public health crisis that it

Countries all over the world are dealing with a rise of drug use and drug-related public health concerns. Many nations adopt vaguely similar methods of battling the “War on Drugs”, from strict border control to harsh criminal punishments for drug-related offenders, violent or not. Even with these efforts put in place, many places are not seeing the desired results. Drug use is mainly treated like a crime, and that may be the problem. Countries that have concerns with rising drug use among their citizens should follow Portugal in decriminalizing the possession and use of small quantities of all illicit drugs.

For many years, a real push has been looming on the idea of legalizing now illegal drugs. This has become a hot debate throughout nations all over the world, from all walks of life. The dispute over the idea of decriminalizing illegal drugs is and will continue on as an ongoing conflict. In 2001, Drug decriminalization in all drugs, including cocaine and heroin, became a nationwide law in Portugal (Greenwald). Ethan Nadelman, essayist of “Think again: Drugs,” states his side of the story on the continuing criminalization of hard drugs, in which he stand to oppose. Whether it is for the good of human rights or not, decriminalizing drugs may be a good head start for a new beginning.

“Drug policy regarding the control of the traditional illicit substances (opiates, cocaine, cannabis) is currently moving through upbeat times in almost all Western countries. Prohibition on the basis of repressive law enforcement not only seems to fail on a large scale, but also to create vast additional costs, problems, and harm for drug consumers, who often find themselves in extreme social, economic, and health conditions” (Fischer 1995: 389).

Social conflicts and struggles are an inevitable part of any society in any country. These struggles can include an increased rate in crime, unemployment, domestic/general violence, and overall civilian depression. When governments cannot seem to find a means to an end, they often turn and look for something to blame for their struggles, and that thing is more often than not, drugs. For many years, several opiates and drugs were primarily used for medicinal purposes, were seen to have an abundance of health benefits and was widely accepted among communities. Although, with the increasing social conflicts and economic conditions, authorities turned to and targeted many different forms of once accepted drugs, and made them the scapegoat for the problems they were facing.

The so called war on drugs potentially causes the American Taxpayer a loss of more than 20-50 billion annually and there are very little results that can be said satisfactory. This does not include the massive amounts of money that United States pays to a number of countries in South America in order to facilitate the curbing of drugs. Furthermore, an alarming number of inmates held in our prisons happen to be drug abuse offenders. Currently the 55% people incarcerated in the federal prisons happen to be drug offenders while the ratio of same people in the state prisons is 25% (Roffman, 7). Such a huge number of drug inmates have the potential of putting a great amount of stress on the system and has serious implications for the economic growth of the whole country. In such circumstances it is quite obvious that the American “war on drugs” has failed to yield the desired objective and more or less can be considered a failure. Decriminalization and treatment have emerged as very powerful alternatives in the recent years to win the war against the

In order to find an alternative to the United States current drug policy, it is helpful to look at the current options. Governments typically take three broad approaches toward drugs. The first is legalization, in which possession and sale are lawful but still subject to regulation and taxation. The second is criminalization, which consists of the banning of possession and sale with criminal punishment (i.e incarceration). Lastly, there is the combination of the two—where sale and possession are prohibited, yet possession is punishable only by sanctions, such as fines or abuse treatment but not jail time.

The combination of health organizations working with the judicial system improved the standard of living for thousands of people in their country. In the United States organizations for free condoms or needles exist, however they are humanitarian groups that travel the county so the aid is not based in one location Since decriminalization of drugs in Portugal, death from overdose has decreased “from 80 deaths in 2001 to sixteen in 2012.” On the other hand, “14,000 people died from prescription opioid pills in 2014” in the United States. The statistical difference between drug related deaths in Portugal versus the United States shows that easier access to drugs does not correlate

Each year, the President of the United States releases an updated version of the National Drug Control Strategy. The latest edition, from July of 2014, introduces a number of changes from previous years. The most important aspects of President Obama’s drug policy includes accepting those who do drugs as individuals who need help, and are the victim of a disease, rather than as criminals who are intentionally being menaces to society. This approach is very progressive, as there is a tradition in America to penalize those who have drug charges as though they are criminals, all while many people agree that money should be saved in this area. The idea that drug use is a victimless crime (of course, with the exception of violent drug-related crimes,

The consensus with regards to drug laws favors more stringent and draconian laws, with the attempt to stifle use and punish crime. There are many claims used against drug legalization, such as, moral degradation, crime, the destruction of inner cities; along with families, diseases, such as AIDS, and the corrupting of law enforcement. When one examines the effects of prohibition, one has to inquire: has the cost been worth it? Certainly, an argument for the abolition of prohibition doesn’t include the favoring of drug use, but merely recognizes the vain and utopian attempt to control individual choices. Along these lines, the unintended consequences of these attempts may preclude any benefits. Further, one has to wonder: are these laws—at

Nicholas Kristof writer for The New York Times since 2001 and two-time Pulitzer prize winner offers a heartbreaking, yet accurate, look into the world of drug abuse. Kristof’s writings often focus on health, poverty, and gender issues throughout the world. As drug related deaths see no decline on the horizon, many call for an end of the outdated policies established to manage the threat. In his article “How to Win a War on Drugs” Kristof compares the strategies being used by the U.S. to those of Portugal. The main takeaway is that Portugal is a shining example of how to deal with the epidemic of drug abuse effecting so many countries around the world, and how poorly America is doing comparatively.

Across Europe the trend to and argument for decriminalization is on the rise. Advocates for legalization of drugs across Europe have touted Portugal 's success and have tried to use it as a unilateral expression of decriminalization as a complete success. Portugal 's success is very much also attributed to an overhaul on the healthcare and treatment of drug addicts rather than being the simple result of decriminalization (Aleem). The Czech Republic recently joined Portugal in decriminalizing drugs in 2010. The mainufacture and distribution of drugs are still highly illegal, but drug users who simply possess or even use are now free of the fear of persecution. Possession of up to 15 grams of marijuana, five grams of hash, 40 psychodelic mushrooms, one and a half grams of heroin, and a gram of cocaine are considered a usable supply of drugs in the Czech Republic. Success within the country can be measured in that roughly 70 percent of the nation 's problematic drug users maintain regular contact with outreach programs and needle exchange programs. The Netherlands has noted a drop in opiate dependencies thanks to a long-established needle exchange program along with allowing the prescription of maintenance doses of diamorphine and methadone (O 'Neill).

Next, as previously proven, policing had a negative cost shift overall due to the NSFAD calling for more funding to go to drug trafficking policing. Local policing costs have not significantly changed, though, meaning that the NSFAD did not augment the amount of police interaction with drug users. Taking into account this information it can be claimed that in terms of the social cost, or the taxpayer burden, the NSFAD has been a mixed bag. What can be positively asserted is that both prison costs and the lost income/productivity of the drug offend has been significantly reduced due to the introduction of decriminalization and CTD’s. Taking into account all four social cost categories identified by Goncalves as well as the their respective limitations and caveats, it can not be confidently be claimed that the overall social costs of drug use following the implementation of the NSFAD were decreased, rather success in reducing negative social repercussions should be considered on a category by category

By decriminalizing all drugs, governments can minimize overdose rates. Deaths due to drug use have decreased significantly, from approximately 80 in 2001, to 16 in 2012 (The Portugal Experiment …). In 2011 Portugal decided to decriminalize the use of all drugs. This included drugs such as heroin and cocaine, and unleashed a major public health campaign to tackle addiction. As a result, Portugal’s drug addiction has been treated more as a medical challenge rather than as a criminal justice issue. Due to the decriminalization of drugs in Portugal, more people with drug problems have come forward and asked for help. With that, it has lowered the over dose rate

A multibillion dollar industry, with a consumer population of about 125 to 203 million people; the drug industry affects lives of all racial, ethnic, economic , social background, including participants in the drug industry, addicts, teenagers, parents, families, and officers of the law. Many people have encountered an experience with drugs and or drug education; the shared experience regarding the discussion of this topic or illegal experience brings importance to this current issue and validates the proposal for change. How much change, what change and how long will the change take place. Although this issue has many perspectives and opinions on how the war on drugs could be “won”, I will focus on two perspectives: drug criminalization and drug legalization. In a Human Rights lens, I will discuss the limitations and strengths of both methods. In the opinion of some and with hindsight the status quo regarding drugs requires reform in order to reverse the unintended consequences of drug prohibition. In the opinion of others criminalizing participants in the drug trade should be penalized under the law.