The Impact of Drugs on the Criminal Justice System

391 Words2 Pages
The Impact of Drugs on the criminal justice System The smuggling, distribution, and use of drugs in the United States have a considerable impact on the criminal justice system and its counterparts. Drug use has become one of the main factors for the increase in crime. Individuals that use drugs provide a demand for a product that is illegally marketed. In turn, the public demand for illegal drugs has influenced drug cartels to smuggle drugs into the United States to be sold to lower income and under developed communities. The distribution and use of drugs has led to an increase in arrest and conviction of individuals under economic strain. For instance, individuals that live in deteriorated communities that can not excess adequate education and health care are at higher risk of substance abuse than any other community and will be the majority of the prison system. It is suggested that there is four models that help explain the path way to criminality of a person and they focus on the ending result after the use of illegal substances. The four models are called intoxication, addiction, systemic, and legal (WSSAC, 2009). The intoxication model suggests that individuals will not use rational thought while intoxicated which leads to the addiction model which states that crimes are committed so the addict can support the habit (WSSAC,2009) The systemic model states that crime occurs when the participant of the drug trade sales the drug. For instance, the use of drugs influences criminal behavior while the distribution of illegal products is a crime. Last is legal model. In this model the individual choices to either abide by the laws that have been enacted to address drug use, possession, and distribution or the person can choice the path that breaks these laws. The war on drugs has become top priority for justice members. The increase of juvenile
Open Document