The Effects Of Drug Abuse On A Criminal Justice System

Across the United States and throughout the world there is an epidemic of epic proportion involving drug addiction. Here in North Carolina the majority of the Department of Corrections inmate population is known to have substance abuse problems. (Price, 62) Along with this epidemic is the growing problem of prison overcrowding. There is a correlation between the two. Many of today’s correctional facilities house inmates that have committed drug related crimes or crimes that they committed while under the influence. There is a solution that would help society and lessen the overcrowding of the penal system. The solution is to help those that are committing crimes because of an addiction disorder. There is viable evidence that this solution

This report starts off with an overview of drug courts are, then moves into the overall problem with drug control in the United States. They talk about the history and the rise in drug offenses during the 1980’s causing the prison populations to rise. When comparing the rise of drug offenses, they found it was both state and federal level. The growth of drug offenses became approximately one in every 198 persons was incarcerated. About nine years later, the first drug court was established. Courts, jails, and prisons were seeing a pattern with the number of low level repeat drug offenders and street dealers starting to cause problems with overcrowding . The drug court movement was a shift from law enforcement’s emphasis on reducing drug use.

The issue of substance abuse in the United States is quickly reaching epidemic proportions. The steady increase in abuse of prescription medications has been one of the largest factors in this recent trend. Opiates in particularly have come under quite a bit of scrutiny due to the over prescribing of the medications by clinicians. Along with this epidemic has been the increased knowledge of addiction and its various forms of treatment. While society is becoming more aware of the problems associated with substance abuse, it still is seen by many as a moral defect or lack of individual will-power. With the vast impact substance abuse has on the health care system, it is imperative this issue is addressed and discussed in ways to best treat those who suffer from addiction and substance abuse problems.

In the United States and around the world there is an epidemic involving drug addiction. Also, we are facing a growing problem revolving around prison overcrowding, due to inmates that have committed drug related crimes, or offences while under the influence. There’s a solution that would help society and lessen overcrowding, and that’s to help those that are committing crimes due to an addiction disorder. In this paper, I will explore option’s that will help the growing population, reduce recidivism, provide treatment for offenders, and assist with re-entry.

The policy calls for the expansion of drug courts, which continue to treat drug users in the criminal justice system, where punishment is often the response to addiction-related behaviors such as positive urine screens or missed appointments (Newman, 2014). It discourages the use of words like addict and substance user noting that “such stigmatizing words may make people less willing to seek treatment, but continues to embrace arresting and criminalizing people who use drugs despite evidence that fear of arrest is a major reason why people with substance misuse disorders do not seek help” (Newman, 2014). According to Bill Piper (2014),

A common belief is that drugs cause crime; and in the criminal justice system there are terms used for crime that is related to or due to the use of drugs. First there are “drug defined offences”, in which is the possession, use, sale, or manufacturing of illegal drugs. Second, is “drug related offences”, which occur when drugs are either the motive or the incentive. This occurs when a person is either under the influence of a drug and commits a crime; commits a crime in order to get money for drugs; or commits a crime due to the distribution of drugs. The final term is “drug-using lifestyle” in which individuals do not have a legitimate economic income and are involved in the illegal manufacturing and distribution of drugs (Pacitti, Balleine, & Killcross, 2013).

Drug courts are considered to be one of the most successful innovations to be implemented in the criminal justice system. It was first implemented during the height of the drug war hysteria and the long epidemic of the skyrocketing rates of incarceration. According to the Bureau of Justice Assistance (2010), drug courts are a “specially designed court docket, whose purpose is to achieve a reduction in recidivism and substance abuse among nonviolent substance abusing offenders and to increase the offender’s likelihood of successful habilitation through, continuous, and intense judicially supervised treatment, mandatory periodic drug testing, community supervision, and use of appropriate sanctions and other rehabilitation services”. Drug Courts were first launched in 1989 by the Miami-Dade County area of Florida. A local prosecutor by the name of Janet Reno and a few other criminal justice professionals grew tired of seeing the same faces and same cases reappear in court so their solution to the problem was to combine drug treatment within the court-like structure. The number of drug courts since then have proliferated to nearly 3,400 across the United States as of June 2014 (NIJ, 2015). More than half target adults and a growing number of juveniles, families, veterans, and various other case types. The innovation of drug courts alters how the court system handles and monitors drug involved cases and integrates the treatment aspect into their primary goals.

There are groups of people in the criminal justice system who considers drug addiction a personal issue, not a criminal one. This could not be further from the truth; drug abuse is illegal and should be treated as such. It is a catalyst for many crimes seen today from mugging to murder. If the numbers of those who abuse drugs are reduced, the amount of crimes associated with the addiction are also reduced. Not only will crime levels be reduced, most of those who undergo treatment tend to be better prepared to do more with their lives and not re-offend.

Drugs are any substance that alters the physiology of the body. (McKim and Hancock 2013) Drugs can range from coffee to alcohol and the substances considered over the counter drugs to illegal drugs. A large number of substances deemed to be drugs have many addictive qualities. These addictive qualities lead to chronic

Although some people argue for the legalization of drugs, addiction to these substances has caused a huge increase in violent crimes in the home, at school, and on the street. Many people do not understand why individuals become addicted to drugs or how drugs change the brain to create compulsive drug abuse. They mistakenly view drug abuse and addiction as strictly a social problem and may characterize those who take drugs as morally weak. One very common belief is that drug abusers should be able to just stop taking drugs if they are only willing to change their behavior. This is a false and uneducated belief. Drug abuse may start as a social problem or social escape but one the addiction has taken ahold of a person

A drug is a substance, other than food, which is taken to alter the way the body and/or mind functions. For the majority, most drugs are used to treat medical disorders, both physical and mental. Some, however, are used unlawfully, and these are called recreational drugs. Out of these drugs there are three main categories: Depressants, Stimulants and Hallucinogens.

This leads to an increase in criminal activity such as neglect of familial duties, robberies to fund their dependency, and violence to defend their habits. The ‘drugee’ becomes a nuisance to society. Some become homeless and exhibit poor health habits such as malnutrition and tooth decay. Other negative effects include the transference of diseases because of needle sharing. Though drug use is a personal choice, the effects on the rest of society are undeniable. The best intentions are formulated on a personal level, but this is overcastted by its negative effects. This argument, however, is a bit one-sided because the reason for using and dependency varies between users.

The negative circumstances of drug-related crime and violence illustrate calamity of what substance abuse can do to and individual. Note that a great percentage of millions of property crimes are drug related and involves a significant

Most drugs have been an issue for many years. Whether it is legal or illegal drug it can affect an individual differently over time. There are positive and negative effects of using drugs. Some positive effects include releasing pain, stress, freedom, and healing. The negative effects of illegal drugs effect one’s future, social aspects, and leads to deviant acts. Crime rates can decrease if use of illegal drugs is stopped. Some drugs can cause behavioral changes as well as delinquent acts. Using drugs can cause people to change moods if they are not used to regularly. Illegal Drugs can make people turn towards violent through friends and family. There are other ways that drugs can cause violence. While under the influence of many drugs, many

Illicit drugs can cause many unlimited types harms towards others such as conflicts. An example is in a home where there is a drug user, issues with their partners, with other family members and friends can quickly develop and escalate. Drugs can interfere with relationship by putting their addiction first instead of their partners. This can result to many disagreements, emotional or physical confrontations and can cause partnerships to grow apart or even to separate. To have a family member that is using drugs, can force the members of the family to experience feelings of helplessness, concern, fear, or terror, failure, and stress. As of friends, they can be discourage to hang out with the drug users as they may be bad influences, too aggressive or depress towards them or they may be scared of who they have become. Or it could be the drug users are no longer making time or putting an effort to contact their friends because they are in a mind state where they have forgotten about their friends. Harm towards others could be violent acts to strangers or drug dealers and again towards those