Prison Persuasive Essay

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.

Why doesn't this expensive attack o... ... middle of paper ... ...residential treatment, but also sentence new non violent offenders to year long treatment. I am one of 63% of Americans that consider drug abuse a problem that should be addressed primarily through counseling and treatment, rather than the criminal justice system (Drug War Facts). The United States seems to have lost sight of the principles of incarceration. The extraordinary number of non-violent drug offenders sent to prison every year portrays a nation sending the wrong message disregarding whether prison is ineffective, cruel and costly compared to other ways of treatment. This can change; drug abusers must be punished and rehabilitated.

A country and culture as advanced as the United States keeps sentencing repeat violent crime offenders to "life imprisonment without parole," when it would be so much more efficient and better for society if the criminals were executed. The "life imprisonment without parole" conviction is frequently sentenced, but rarely enforced. This is caused by the extensive list of backlogs in the United States' penal system. These backlogs create a dangerous situation for society, becau se the convicts often slip through the judicial system after a very short prison term. Newsweek reports that in the United States there are over 1,000 correctional facilities housing over 75,000 death-row inmates.

Out of 31,346 sentenced prisoners in federal institutions, drug law violators were the largest single category, 9487. By legalizing drugs, there would be no more drug offenders to lock up. Since many drug users would no longer be committing violent or property crimes to pay for their habits, there would be fewer real criminals. This decrease in inmates would bring the overflowing federal prison system down to its rated capacity. The excessive efforts now used against drug activity and drug related-crimes by police would then be put to use more effectively for catching rapists, murderers, and the remaining criminals who commit crimes against people and property.

Out of those 2.4 million people, fifty percent of the male federal population and fifty-eight percent of the female federal population are behind bars for a drug offense (Shively, 2015). Out of the almost seventy billion dollars spent on prison every year, only 1.9 cents of every dollar goes towards substance abuse treatment (Sack, 2014). With nearly fifty percent of jail and prison inmates addicted to drugs, more focus needs to be put on rehabilitation rather than leaving prisoners to go through

This law doubles sentences for second-time felons and gives life sentences for even non-violent third felony offenders. In March 2008, there were 41,284 prisoners serving time under this three-strikes law. In 2005, they estimated this law was costing the state $500 million each year. (Moore, 2009) Public Safety Concerns The biggest issue with public safety concerns is the public may be quick to overreact and not hear out the positive aspects of releasing certain offenders early on parole or probation. The public is quicker to want more prisons built, than to support programs that would rehabilitate those offenders who could be active parts of their communities without threat.

Through the years the mandatory sentencing for drug offenders has lowered to at least 10 years it varies by the state. Even though it 's shorter than previous years it is still a long time to send someone to jail without a guaranteed promise that they will get better in the end. On Prison police.org website it is quoted that “two decades after the enactment of the mandatory sentences, these laws have failed to deter people from using or selling drugs. c. This is because many substance abusers are addicted to the drugs and even though you send them away when they are free they still may be addicted so they end up relapsing back into the same issues. so now the big question is “How is sending criminals to rehab more money conscious than jail?” II.

In fact, only twenty percent of the United States of proof that the penalty in deterring crime. The murder rate in death penalty states do not actually remained consistently lower than in death ... ... middle of paper ... ...hiopental, bowing to pressure from death penalty opponents, stopped making it. Also then last March the state was forced to replace sodium thiopental with pentobarbital after the U.S. supplier of the former drug halted distribution amid international protests. This drug cost is more expensive than preparation which used before. For instance , Ohio used to spend $218 for 5 grams of sodium thiopental, now spent $2,158 for the same 5-gram dose of pentobarbital.

The National Institute of Justice website hired the Bureau of Justice to complete a study over recidivism rates in 2005. The study tracked 404,638 prisoners in 30 states, after being released within 3 years 67.8% were arrested again, within 5 years 76.6% were rearrested. (Durose, 2015) These statistics prove the claim that the rehab system in prison needs some major refining. Along with not working on the care and treatment system, the states are creating harsher penalties on crimes, and the shift from indeterminate sentencing to determinate sentencing are major factors in sending large amounts of people to

Cocaine and heroin arrests have actually decreased by 1/3 from 1991 to 2000. While marijuana has more than 700,000 people are ar... ... middle of paper ... ...sider. The youth is definitely a big issue which is why I think you should at least be 18 before you could smoke marijuana. As far as health and crime and medicinal marijuana I think that my side directs to the major points our country should be looking at. Works Cited "About."