Early Prevention And De-Criminalization Analysis

For many years, drugs have been the center of crime and the criminal justice system in the United States. Due to this widespread epidemic, President Richard Nixon declared the “War on Drugs” in 1971 with a campaign that promoted the prohibition of illicit substances and implemented policies to discourage the overall production, distribution, and consumption. The War on Drugs and the U.S. drug policy has experienced the most significant and complex challenges between criminal law and the values of today’s society. With implemented drug polices becoming much harsher over the years in order to reduce the overall misuse and abuse of drugs and a expanded federal budget, it has sparked a nation wide debate whether or not they have created more harm than good. When looking at the negative consequences of these policies not only has billions of dollars gone to waste, but the United States has also seen public health issues, mass incarceration, and violent drug related crime within the black market in which feeds our global demands and economy. With this failed approach for drug prohibition, there continues to be an increase in the overall production of illicit substances, high rate of violence, and an unfavorable impact to our nation.

Addictions – Children that live with adults that are addicts may be relied upon by the adults at times to be their main carers. At times these young people may feel isolated and unable to tell people what they are experiencing at home, they may experience stressful situations and may be living in the poverty that

This journal article discusses how the government has increased “mandatory sentencing” using “aggressive initiatives” for drug related crimes. Additionally, these government implemented sentencing guidelines have made the prison population grow

The use of drugs and their classifications have been a world-renowned issue for many years. It was not until recent years that drug abuse prevention became so highly emphasized. Now questions are being asked about the effectiveness of intervention programs and who is to blame for its faults. With the increase of drug abuse, questions begin growing whether drug addicts can be helped. Drug abuse is highly ranked among the most severe problems countries now face. There are numerous types of drugs being abused today—both legal and illegal. The primary focus has shifted from the types of drugs abused and where these drugs are coming from to prevention and the detrimental effects of abuse.

The War on Drugs is one cause for the mass incarceration that has become apparent within the United States. This refers to a drastic amount of people being imprisoned for mainly non-violent crime (“Mass Incarceration” 2016). In addition to people who are not an immediate threat to society being locked up for a substantial duration of time, the economic consequences are costing states and taxpayers millions of dollars. Specifically, every one in five people incarcerated is in prison due to some

Arising from President Richard Nixon’s “war on drugs”, this major increase in prison population is about 790 percent higher than it was in the 1980s, despite the fact that violent crime has been on the decline (Flatow). As President Nixon declared drugs the root cause of social instability, American citizens grew fearful of “crime”, although the term may be translated loosely, and

The writer believes that health care providers who educate minors about the risk of possible addiction will feel good about themselves. Health care providers will feel good about themselves because they will always be involved in the lives of these minors, will help decrease deaths, and will increase awareness. Nothing will feel better to a health care provider than knowing that this particular minor didn’t misuse his prescription drugs or distributed to friends because he or she educated him or her about the potential risk of

Yet, addiction can happen in the wealthiest, most nurturing, most loving of families. For example, a compilation of data by National Surveys on Drug Use and Health, collected between 2009-2014 revealed that about one of eight kids or 8.7 million, lived with at least one parent with “substance use disorder”.

Azevedo (n.d.) states that teens and their parents are blind to the fact that addiction is a problem with youth. Thinking about addiction adolescents commonly associate it with movies images, or people they’ve seen at the worst point of their addiction. Many adolescents have ideas about what an addiction looks like however, it is hard for them to understand how substance use is a problem as consequences do not seem extreme (Azevedo, n.d.). Similar to adolescents, parents are not aware of the propellor of addiction among youth. Azevedo (n.d.) states they have preconceived ideas about addition and are in denial about addiction in youth. They believe that if their child had an addition problem they would perform poorly in school or have a bad

Drug addiction is a serious issue in not only America today, but globally. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, substance addiction is a “chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite the harmful consequences” (“What is drug addiction?”). Drug abuse affects not only the user, but those around the user as well. The actions of a drug user place a significant amount of worry on the people that are closest to them such as friends and family. Children with parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol can be severely affected by the actions of their parents which can cause them much harm in terms of biological and

Drugs have been a rapidly growing problem for kids and teenagers over the years. Though there is no sure way to prevent the use of them, there are many precautions that can be taken to reduce, or eliminate the chances. The effects of taking drugs is far too dangerous to sit back and ignore. There are things that can be done today to prevent drug abuse among children in the future. The most common way to prevent drug abuse is simply by being educated on the dangers and effects of them.

This program is important because children are like sponges and learn by seeing. If addictions and substance abuse is seen on a regular basis, then the addiction can be passed down to child. With the help of my intervention program, the cycle of addiction can be terminated. Having a parent as an addict can affect the child ability to do well in school. Children of addicts can be mentally damaged due to seeing the negative effects of substance abuse. The child could even be getting abused by the parent while under the influence. This program will be built on education, stress management and connections that become lasting relationships l include afterschool program, counseling and help for parents.

The War On Drugs is one of the most explosive topics in the current American political conversation. It is heavily related with crime, discrimination, political turmoil, money, and various medical problems across the country. It is a subject of great controversy for many Americans because the campaign has not only been unsuccessful in preventing the local illegal drug trade or effecting the black market in relatively any sort of way, but it has also done close to nothing in regards to fixing the health issues surrounding America’s drug problem. Crime fighting strategies that cut away at the root and source of the problem might not seem like the most immediate, but it is the most efficient and will make the biggest difference long-term. Despite approximately $1 trillion spent by the U.S. on the “War on Drugs”, the US Department of Justice has confirmed that the usage of drugs has not changed over the past 10 years. Approximately $350 billion is spent per year on the “war on drugs”, while only $7 billion is spent on prevention programs by the federal government (Rolling Stone 1). Not only is the war on drugs costly to taxpayers, it is also ineffective at reducing trade and usage. With most of the focus placed on punishment rather than treatment for the targets, it does nothing to help those we all know plagued with addiction which is ultimately what causes the cycle to continue. I argue that the war needs to be seen from the drug users point of view, and this problem

Drug abuse and crime is not a new concept and the statistics around the problem have continued to rise. According to (Office of Justice Programs, 2011), there were an estimated 1,846,400 state and local arrests for drug abuse in the United States. Additionally, 17 percent of state prisoners and 18 percent of federal inmates said they committed their current offense to obtain money for drugs (Office of Justice Programs, 2011). Based on this information, we can conclude that our criminal justice systems are saturated with drug abusers. The United States has the highest imprisonment rate and about 83 percent of arrests are for possession of illegal drugs (Prisons & Drug Offenders, 2011). Based on these figures, I can conclude that we should be more concerned about solving the drug abusers problems and showing them an alternative lifestyle rather than strict penalty of long term incarceration which will inevitably challenge their ability to be fully functioning citizens after release.

A child is greatly impacted by it’s parents during their childhood. Children are like clay and parents can mould them in their initial stage of the life cycle how ever they want. Parents should have enough knowledge about ways children get attracted toward drugs, so that they can prevent addiction for the future. Often children with problematic backgrounds start consuming drugs because of the