Drug Abuse and Crime

2067 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Drug abuse and crime

Drug Abuse & Crime

When I was brainstorming about my term paper topic I came up with an interesting topic which is Drug Abuse & Crime. I thought it was imperative to learn about how drug abuse affects the crime rates in America. I will be discussing other subjects such as how many criminals are actually under the influence of a drug when committing a crime including illicit and licit drugs. Additionally, I will be discussing what drugs the criminals were under the influence of and the statistics surrounding drug abuse and crime and what programs are available to help with the problem. I think I have selected a broad and informational topic that we must be concerned about.

Although, the concern about drug abuse and crime rates is nothing new 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). From this information we can conclude that our criminal justice systems are overflowing 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). So, after gathering these outstanding figures I can conclude that we should be more concerned about solving the drug abusers problems and showing them an alternative lifestyle. I personally do not think that putting these drug abusers in incarceration solves there problem or helps the United States economic troubles.

Let us consider how many offenders are u...

... middle of paper ...

...r Facts. Retrieved August 1, 2011, from http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/node/63

RDAP. (2011, August 5). FAMM. Retrieved August 5, 2011, from www.famm.org/Repository/Files/FINAL%20RDAP%20FAQs%209.9.pdf

T, Â. (n.d.). Crime and Alcohol. Alcoholism - The Alcoholism Home Page. Retrieved August 2, 2011, from http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/costs/a/aa980415.htm

T, Â. (n.d.). Methamphetamine Effects - The Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Methamphetamine. Alcoholism - The Alcoholism Home Page. Retrieved August 5, 2011, from http://alcoholism.about.com/od/meth/a/effects.-Lx6.htm

Twenty percent of youth in Texas were high by 8th grade | San Antonio Defense Attorney. (n.d.). San Antonio Defense Attorney | Texas Criminal Lawyer. Retrieved August 5, 2011, from http://www.sanantonio-criminal-defense.com/2011/03/twenty-percent-of-youth-in-texas-were-high-by-8th-grade.shtml

Show More
Related

  • The Pros And Cons Of Federal Prisons

    1219 Words  | 3 Pages

    Some of these crimes such as fraud, gambling, and bribery can really upset the flow of politics and the economy. But the difference is that drug and alcohol crime make up a majority of federal prison inmates, and it’s something that would be treated better with rehabilitation than incarceration. As of January 2014 50.1% of inmates in federal prison are there for drug offenses (a non-violent crime). Over 3200 of these people in are serving life sentences without parole. 83.4 percent of these people received the punishment that was mandatory under sentencing laws. According to the United States Sentencing Commission between October 2012 and September 2013, 27.6 percent of drug offenders were locked up for crimes related to marijuana. The drug policies in both state and national government are not flexible enough. Spending tax payer dollars to incarcerate drug users who don’t get the help they need is a waste of money. The recidivism rate of prisoners continues to rise. Should drug users and alcoholics continue to be incarcerated because they don’t have the ability to help themselves and stop using drugs? That is a form of neglect and continuing to waste taxpayer dollars to neglect the issue is only digging the national debt deeper, and avoiding the real

    Read More

  • Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Essay

    1495 Words  | 3 Pages

    We cannot afford to keep using the same approach in hopes of diminishing our drug problem in the United States. In a study posted on RAND.org, the author Jonathan P. Caulkins compares many methods we can use to help with drug crime. The first graph compares federal mandatory minimum sentences, conventional enforcement at all levels of government, and treatment of heavy users. Conventional enforcement prevented around thirty kilo grams of cocaine from being used, while federal mandatory minimums prevented around forty kilograms from being used. Treatment of heavy users blew both of the other methods out of the water.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Incarceration

    1478 Words  | 3 Pages

    Now is not the time for the United States federal government to decriminalize or legalize illegal drugs, including marijuana. However, nor can the government continue to do nothing about the financially, economically, and socially expensive domestic drug policy it currently follows. The United States Congress should pass legislation to remove mandatory minimum penalties from drug offenses, and the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Prisons should add in-house rehabilitation programs for its incarcerated drug offenders. These policies would increase the cost-effectiveness of current drug policy and reduce crime and drug use, and do not face the political obstacles or have the uncertain consequences of decriminalizing or legalizing drugs.

    Read More

  • Drug Prohibition Research Paper

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    Is Prohibition (defined as a government decree against the exchange of a good or service) actually successful in reducing recreational drug consumption and drug-related violence? This is the question that will be analyzed in this paper. Drug enforcement officials frequently cite drug-related violence as a reason that drugs must be eliminated from our society. A contrary belief is that the system of drug prohibition actually causes most of the violence. Similar to alcohol prohibition in the 1920s and the rise of organized crime, drug prohibition inspires a dangerous underground market that manifests itself with violent crime throughout the U.S. and, in fact, the world. The illegal nature of drugs has significantly increased the price and the

    Read More

  • The Facts About Methamphetamine

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    "Short-Term & Long-Term Impact & Deadly Effects of Meth Abuse & Addiction: Foundation for a Drug Free World." Short-Term & Long-Term Impact & Deadly Effects of Meth Abuse & Addiction: Foundation for a Drug Free World. N.p., 2006-2014. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.

    Read More

  • Does Substance Use Increase Violence in Adolescents?

    2400 Words  | 5 Pages

    With different types of violence happening in all aspects of human life, and our perpetrators seemingly getting younger it brings to bear the question what role substance use has in crime. Crime comes in many forms, for example Cyber Bulling, Assaults, Intimate Partner Violence to name a few.

    Read More

  • California Proposition 36

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    36 will come from peer reviewed journal articles found through, SAGE Journals, The Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, The Justice Policy Institute, and The Criminology Public Policy, as well as a wide range of websites such as Drugpolicy.org, Legislative Analyst’s Office, the Drug Policy Alliance.

    Read More

  • Nonviolent Drug Crimes

    1348 Words  | 3 Pages

    Drug arrests occur too often and are taking up a majority of general arrests in America. “Drug arrests were the single largest category of arrests, accounting for more than 10% of all arrests in the country” (A drug, 2015). One out of ten of every arrest in the United States of America is a drug arrest. This over focus on drug arrests needs to stop as it is taking focus off of more damaging violent crimes. Overall drug arrests are up 8.3% from a decade ago” (A drug, 2015). Drug crimes are increasing because of the American government increased focus on drug crimes, despite the fact that it is not helping the problem. Even though drug arrests are going up, drug use in the United States of America is “... plentiful and widely used as ever” (Grenier,

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Alcoholics Anonymous

    1641 Words  | 4 Pages

    The biggest question people ask is if the “war on drugs” was successful. According to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), “The goals of the program are to reduce illicit drug use, manufacturing and trafficking, drug-related crime and violence, and drug-related health consequences.” The best way to measure the effectiveness of the “war on drugs” is to focus on these basic questions; Is drug use down? Is crime down? and Are drugs less available? Since 1988, drug use by individuals ages 12 and over has remained stable according to the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA). The number of individuals reporting any drug use has increased by approximately 7 million and the number of those who reported drug use in previous months or previous years has remained unchanged. The Organization Monitoring the Future studies drug use, access to drugs, and perspectives towards drugs of junior and senior high school students nationwide. Results of a study conducted in 2005 showed a minor decline in substance abuse by older teens, but drug use among eighth graders stopped remained the same. However, the changes were not statistically significant and ultimately there was no reduction in substance abuse among young students. Crime in the United States has decreased significantly since 1993, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. On the other hand,

    Read More

  • Legalizing Marijuana Will Decreased Crime

    1426 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1989, a Republican county executive of Mercer County, N.J., estimated that it would cost approximately one       billion dollars to build the jail space required to house all the drug users in Trenton alone (Roffman 1982). All of this money could be spent on things of greater importance. Not only has the drug problem increased, but the drug related problems are on the rise. Drug abuse is a killer worldwide. Some are born addicts (crack babies), while others develop addictions later in life.

    Read More

  • Substance Abuse and Prisons

    953 Words  | 2 Pages

    Substance abuse is a national problem. Prisons are overcrowded with these types of offenders. People will do anything to get these drugs ranging from petty theft to murder. People with substance abuse problems know no boundaries. All they think about is how they are going to get that drug for that day. Substance abusers do not care who they hurt or why they hurt them. A lot of people that are addicted hurt the people they love the most like children and parents. People in the prison system that has been convicted of violent crimes most of them say that they were under the influence of some type of drug or alcohol.

    Read More

  • Past and Current Trends of Drug Abuse in the United States

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    Drug abuse has changed over the years due to the trends that Americans face from the encouragement of different cultures. The abuse of substances creates many health problems. The following will discuss the past and current trends of drug use and the effects these drugs have on the health of the individuals who abuse the drugs.

    Read More

  • Office of National Drug Control Policy

    1578 Words  | 4 Pages

    Reduce the Threat, Incidence and Prevalence of Violent Crime and Drug Trafficking: FY 2011 Overview. (2011).Intelligence (p. 6). Washington, D. C. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/jmd/2011factsheets/pdf/reduce-drug-trafficking.pdf

    Read More

  • The Failure of the War on Drugs

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    One of the most prevalent misconceptions, Benson and Rasmussen, contend is the notion that a large percentage of drug users commit nondrug crimes, what might be called the “drugs-cause-crime” assumption implicit in the government’s drug-war strategy. If true, then an effective crackdown on drug use would reduce nondrug crime rates.... ... middle of paper ... ...

    Read More

  • Anti-legalization of Drugs

    1059 Words  | 3 Pages

    stigation, Uniform Crime Reports for the United States 1996, Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office ( 1997) Inciardi, James A. "The Wars on Drugs." Palo Alto: Mayfield, 1986 Kennedy, X.J., Dorthy M. Kennedy, and Jane E. Aaron, eds. The Bedford Reader.

    Read More

More about Drug Abuse and Crime

Open Document