The demographic group most affected by the war on drugs and the incarceration boom are the juveniles. Youth who turn to drugs and alcohol abuse are faced with harsh reality at YSI Facilities, another branch of the private prison industry. Rather than being charged with fines appropriate to their offenses and being sent to rehabilitation or other forms of drug treatment, non-violent offenders are locked away with long, harsh sentences. This profit-driven war on drugs and other substance abuse ruins the lives of the inmates, turning them into harder criminals by exposing them to such environments. According to a project run by The Huffington Post, 40% of juvenile offenders sent to private prisons on account of drug related crimes are arrested and convicted of harsher crimes in less than a year from their release (Kirkham).
Every year our state has to spend a large sum of money on supervising marijuana because it is illegal. But once Proposition 19 is passed, those marijuana offenders and drug traffickers will be innocent. “The measure could result in savings to the state and local governments by reducing the number of marijuana offenders incarcerated in state prisons and county jails, as well as the number placed under county probation or state parole supervision”(Brown 14). This could save California millions of dollars annually.
The meth epidemic in the United States has accumulated over 1 and a half million addicts. There is no question that this epidemic has created a social problem with in our society. Meth has developed into a problem because like other drugs, it creates a sense of apathy and desperation. Because of this desperation and apathy addicts become violent and mentally unstable. They do things that if they weren’t on the drug they otherwise wouldn’t do.
There have been studies showing that employees and law enforcement have tried to get extra things like money, drugs and sex. Bernard McCarthy has studied this very thing. He identified three categories of correctional corruption: Misfeasance – when someone grants personal favors or privileges; Malfeasance – is exploitation of inmates and/or their families; and Nonfeasance – is failure to report crooked acts by their co workers (Logan, 1990). With all of the money that is being generated, it shows that almost everyone that is affiliated with the prisons is making money, except for the
This generates a market that is unregulated, and in this market, anything can happen. Unlawful organizations like drug cartels and gangs often take advantage of this unregulated market. It is projected that marijuana accounts for around 70% of cartel profits (Pot Economics). Cartels are responsible for many violent crimes. Since 2006, nearly 50,000 Mexicans have died in cartel-related homicides (The Cartel Crackdown).
For gangs, selling drugs is the fund-raising equivalent of a church bake sale. Gangs use drug money to buy more weapons and more drugs. Gang violence and illegal drug sales perpetuate each other. To stop this vicious cycle the government spends billions of dollars every year on the “War on Drugs” to prosecute and imprison drug dealers and users. Under this system the government spends billions and gangs make billions.
Legalizing marijuana here will save and make an immense amount of money. Keeping marijuana illegal, however, costs a lot more money. Our tax money is being spent on the cost of prosecution and defense of accused offenders, cost of incarceration of convicted offenders, foster care and social services for children of incarcerated offenders, and cost of active law enforcement (SDAA). Housing a single marijuana offender in a prison costs taxpayers over $100,000 (Donziger). In total, taxpayers spend up $7.5 billion, or $23,500 per person, annually on feeding, clothing, and providing shelter for marijuana offenders (Donziger).
Crack which is cheaper to produce became accessible to people of all socioeconomic statuses. Cocaine in the form of crack is now more widely abused . Cocaine in any form has had devastating effects on society, yet has been glamorized by media, especially in the movie industry. History of Cocaine
Hannah McLeod Mr. Ziehm American Literature 5 February 2012 Not For Sale The United States serves as a passage way and harbor of many human traffickers throughout the nation, “each year about 17,500 individuals are brought into the United States and held against their will as victims of human trafficking” (Talati 1). Human trafficking may be defined as the acquiring of humans as unwilling subjects for the purpose of making a profit. Next to the drug industry, human trafficking is now the most profitable and fastest growing criminal industry in the world (Anderson 8). This industry is today’s modern time slavery. Although the severity of this situation is not fully known because of its secrecy, organizations are working towards this goal
Intelligence says Sinaloa Cartel has won battle for Ciudad Juarez drug routes.”(CNS News, 2010) At the end of year 2010, 3,622 homicides were recorded in Ciudad Juarez. That was the most that was recorded within the past 6 years. Not only was this cartel known for its bloodshed, but for also for its trafficking of cocaine. This cartel trafficked 1,500 to 2,000 kilograms of cocaine per month to their Chicago cell. (Department of Justice, 2009) That is approximately 18,000 kilograms of cocaine per year in the city of Chicago.