Illicit Drugs : The Negative Effects Of Drug Abuse

The War on Drugs is seen by many as an enormous factor of mass incarceration. There were more than 1.5 million drug arrests in the U.S. in 2014. More than 80% of them were for possession only (Drug Policy Alliance, 2017). 208,000 people are incarcerated for drug offenses in state prisons and 97,000 are incarcerated in federal prisons for the same reason. 1 in 5 incarcerated people are drug offenders (Peter Wagner, Bernadette Rabuy, 2017). According to Politifact, “The state and federal prison population remained fairly stable through the early 1970s, until the war on drugs began. Since then, it has increased sharply every year, particularly when Reagan expanded the policy effort in the 1980s, until about 2010…. In 1980, about 41,000 people were incarcerated for drug crimes, according to the Sentencing Project. In 2014, that number was about 488,400 — a 1,000 percent increase.” Even other factors, like

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

In 1996, Federal Legislation was put in place that banned former prisoners with drug convictions from using food stamps and allowed public housing authorities to ban drug convicts from staying in public housing (Race and the War on Drugs). This negatively impacts the former drug offenders because it provides another setback on top of the plethora of challenges that they already face when leaving prison, like finding a job where the employer accepts former criminals. Having all of these difficulties in readjusting to “regular” society, restrictions set in place by the government now make it harder for these drug users or sellers to remain out of prison. The issue with punishing drug use is that it does not attempt to end the problem permanently and turns to quick fixes instead of long term solutions like rehabilitation and in- prison drug therapy. The lack of desire to help these prisoners is evident in the dropping of in-prison drug therapy since 1991 “despite the fact that almost one in five people in state prisons on drug charges cite the need to pay for their drug habit as the reason for their offense,” (Race and the War on Drugs). The War on Drugs attempts to punish drug

There are too many people in prison in our country and any people in prison today are non-violent drug offenders. The American war on drugs has targeted people in poverty and minorities, who are more likely to be involved in drug use. This has created a pattern of crime and incarceration and “...[a] connection between increased prison rates and lower crime is tenuous and small.” (Wyler). The prison system in our country today focuses on punishment for the inmates rather than rehabilitation for life after their release.

Drug abuse and addiction remain large and persistent problems. Nationally, addiction and abuse of all substances costs the economy an estimated $600 billion dollars annually. Indeed, over the past decade, illicit drug use appears to be steady or rising (2011 National Survey on Drug Use and Health; DHHS). From this we see that prescription and non-prescription opioid use is particularly problematic. For example, prescription pain reliever misuse has remained consistently high for most of the last decade and makes up the largest portion of misuse of prescription drugs (Figure 1). In addition people who report using heroin within the last year has increased by over 50% since 2001 (Figure 2).

We jail a grand amount of the population most times, who don’t necessarily produce any harm or those who have not committed violent crimes. Most arrest, convictions, and sentencing are a product of drug related issues. “Sentencing policies of the War on Drugs era resulted in dramatic growth in incarceration for drug offenses” (The Sentencing Project, 2016, p.3).

In our society we are faced with a drug addiction problem that is not being dealt with properly. Our use of incarceration as a means to deal with this

An estimated 22 million Americans are dependent on or abusing drugs or alcohol, at huge costs to society. Deaths from overdoses due to heroin and other opioids, including the prescription painkillers. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has called a “public health crisis.” (par #1) But some scientist and clinics are calling it a genetic problem or an addiction.

Incarcerating non-violent criminals with a substance use disorder does not address the issue of safety in the community. It continues the cycle of poverty, weakens employment opportunities, damages relationships, worsens psychological and mental illnesses and is also responsible for continued or increased drug use. Alternatives to prison, specifically restorative justice, does not alleviate overcrowding but changes the focus from isolation and punishment to reintegration. Implementing corrective sanctions within a community instead of a process of isolation from it, offers a better long-term protection for society.

Drug use in America is one of the major issues we face and the problem has skyrocketed over the past three decades. Heroin and painkiller addictions exceed all other countries. It is important that we address some of the causes that lead to the abuse, how to treat the abuse, and how to prevent the distribution of illegal prescription drugs.

Since 2000, the drug use rate in America has risen to the highest it’s ever been. In a survey done in 2009, 8.7 percent of people age 12 and up said that they used illegal substances within a month of taking the survey, a 9 percent increase since 2008 (Abuse, National Institute on Drug, 2010). This statistic alone is very concerning due to

When kids are exposed to multiple drugs for conditions they may not even have, this could lead to problems later in their life such as drug abuse. The side effects of taking one drug may lead to needing another drug to take that side effect away. The drug abuse of taking medication when it is not needed can lead to addiction later in life. Drug addictions can hurt many people at one time. Drug addictions cause people to steal, lose their jobs, use unnecessary violence, and cause driving accidents, according to the NIMH. When teens use medications to focus in school, they may hand out the pills to their friends which would hurt another unsuspecting family. The National Institute on Drug Abuse also notes that taking medications for mental disorders can lead to drug abuse, as a way to alleviate their symptoms; if they suffer from anxiety or depression, they may use tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. Early exposure to drugs can lead to abuse later in life. When drugs are abused at such a young age, the National Institute on Drug Abuse suggests that these drugs can change the brain in a way that makes children more at risk for developing a mental disorder. The National Institute on Drug Abuse also classifies stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall as Schedule II drugs, which means these drugs have the potential to make the user addicted and the potential of leading to severe psychological and/or physical dependence. Other drugs that are also in the Schedule II category with the

I was only four years old at the time but little did I know it was my first time seeing a drug related problem involved in my family. A cousin of mine had a drug and alcohol addiction, his name was Jason. He came by my house around once or twice a week and I’d always look at the window as he walked up to my house. He had been neglected by other family members but not my mother. He would come by everyday because he wasn’t living anywhere at the time and my mom would give him food and something to drink everytime he came by. I wouldn’t necessarily say this was a negative or positive experience simply because I was only four years old and at the time I just couldn’t really understand it. As the years went on he had began to stop coming over and eventually I didn’t know why until I was in the 6th grade which was when we had our sex ed and drug education classes for school. I began to understand the problem and I reassured it with my mom and she finally told me that he had an addiction. With all the videos going around about drugs we focused mostly on marijuana. As a kid I was raised to believe it was an evil drug because of these videos we had watched in school. Little did I know the drug actually isn’t all that bad compared to the other drugs such as heroine. At the time they never even showed us that marijuana was both a medical and recreational drug. That would have changed my outlook on the drug at the time. In cases it has cured cancer and does plenty of other great things

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.

In American society, drugs have influenced many people and have created many downfalls within their lives. Despite the thought of harmful consequences in one’s life, drug abuse has changed an individual’s way of thinking and how their body operates. People who have participated in drug use find it difficult to stop because it leads to serious addiction. The changes in their brain control their thoughts making it challenging for that individual to stop using drugs. Today, drug abuse leaves a negative impact on the brain, damages many families, end many lives, and disobeys God’s command. Although some argue that drugs are part of God’s creation, drug use denounces Christian faith and God’s word demonstrates that drugs are wrong.