Everyone in society plays a particular role. Social justice advocates might be concerned about incarceration rates that show racial disproportions and a fiscally conservative taxpayer would also be worried about the cost of said “war on drugs.” State legislatures need new ideas and solutions to come out of the war on drugs, considering policy change is in their hands. The United States has one of the highest incarceration rates in the world. The inmate population grew considerably by 1,849 prisoners a week in 1996; that is 264 people a day. One out of every 155 U.S. residents has been behind bars, putting the United States only second to Russia and it’s per person rate of incarceration.
A survey done in 1991 showed that over 20 million people used marijuana within that year. In the United States there are more than 300,000 drug offenders in prison at every moment costing our government $100,000 per cell, meaning it costs $30 billion to make a place for these people to serve their crime. In addition it costs $25,000 per year to keep an inmate in prison, adding $15 billion more to our already high costs (Towards a Policy on Drugs). Elliott Currie describes that the United States should adopt the Dutch policy of legalization of marijuana and other hashish drugs excluding cocaine and heroin. These two drugs are much more harmful to you and can be highly addictive.
Some people get trigger-happy when it comes to tense situations. Because of this, criminals are killed more often by citizens than by law enforcement (Huntwork). Firearm injuries are the second leading cause of injury (Ruben). There are more gun related fatalities in the United States than in the worlds thirty-six other richest nations. Murders by firearm rates are 17.5 times higher than in twenty-two other populous high-income nations combined.
50% of all prisoners are non-violent offenders, and 20% are drug related offenders. As of now, without rehabilitation more than 50 % of all crimes are committed by re-offenders and 40-60% of all parolees return to prison. Criminals usually have poor education. Jobs, after release, are hard to find and usually low paying. Who wants to hire a known thief?
When I did get caught up in the legal system, the first question my attorney asked was, “Are you an addict?” He further explained that if I was on drugs when I committed my crime, the District Attorney would be willing to make a deal for less jail time. The reasoning was that by being an addict I was not responsible for my actions, due to the fact that I was under the influence of a narcotic. The basic relationship between drug use and crime is simple. It is a crime to possess, manufacture, or distribute any drugs with a high potential for abuse such as marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine. It is also illegal to drive while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Another compromise is the decriminalization of marijuana; if someone is to be in possession of less than one ounce then it is just a misdemeanor. Though prohibitionists are still pushing to keep all harmful drugs illegal and pro drug supporters are still aiming for more laws to be passed legalizing drugs. Neither side is done fighting for their cause. In the 1920’s the eighteenth amendment establishes the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. This was a nationwide ban on the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcoholic beverages (Eighteenth Amendment).
Right now restorative marijuana in California accumulates 14 billion dollars a year and with authorization it is required to increase by 4 Billion dollars and that is just California! With the increase of salary there will likewise be cuts on government using. Every single year America uses around 68 Billion dollars on detainees in prison where 1/6 of the populace were detained because of peaceful drug criminal acts identified with marijuana. That means America could spare 11.5 Billion dollars a year on jail going through with your expense
Moreover, drug cartels cannot compete with government owned substances for free. This is how the government inadvertently funds them; the solution should be to remove the economy behind drugs. It sounds counterproductive to give drug addicts drugs, however cutting them off cold turkey isn’t the solution. It needs to be worked through as to why a person wants drugs in the first place. One can attempt to get drug users non-physically addicted repeatedly, however if there’s no effort to address why people do drugs in the first place- it won’t do anything.
There are many cases of drugs abuse happened recently in our environment either it is exposed or unexposed one. Teenagers, is one of them who have done it. Just like Laurie Wilmot, LCSW, a therapist at a therapeutic wilderness programme for troubled teens, who has worked with adolescents with drug or alcohol problems for years, explained that there are some reasons why teenagers use drugs. First, they use drug to get some sort of pay-off, whether getting high helps them fit in. Second, by using drugs, they can be more confident to approach the opposite sex and the last one is that by using drugs teenagers can escape their problems as it helps them to solve problems.
Definitions of drug abuse and addiction are subjective and infused with the political and moral values of the society or culture. For example, the stimulant caffeine in coffee and tea is a drug used by millions of people, but because of its relatively mild stimulatory effects and because caffeine does not generally trigger antisocial behavior in users, the drinking of coffee and tea, despite the fact that caffeine is physically addictive, is not generally considered drug abuse. Even narcotics addiction is seen only as drug abuse in certain social contexts. In India opium has been used for centuries without becoming unduly corrosive to the social fabric. Types of Abused Substances There