The Battle with Drugs and Prison Overcrowding David Turner CCJ 1020 October 06, 2012 Overcrowding is one of the hardest challenges that prison facilitators face in the United States. There are many factors that that affect the constant flow of men and women being refined into modern-day prisons. The “war upon drugs has led to more criminal arrest and vérité that some other crime.
The money spent on the prohibition of drugs as well as the law enforcement presence to stop medication trafficking raises high into the billions of us dollars.
The cost to care for these individuals while incarcerated has cost taxpayers billions over the years. When looking at present statistics from the “war upon drugs, the supply and demand is greater than it has ever been. By 1995 to 2003, medication offenses accounted for 49% from the growth in prison inhabitants in the two state and federal institutions (McVay, 2011). According to the Department of Justice, in 2004, almost thirty percent of medicine offenders in state prisons were providing time for possession, while near to 70% had been serving time for trafficking.
We have a strong following over the United States via state groupings and companies rallying against sentencing and pushing for drug guidance programs. Legalization for marijuana has resurfaced in the Nov polls in a few states. In several prisons, pot convictions load the cellular blocks a lot more than any other medicine offense. In 1933, America re-legalized liquor, and the twenty first amendment re-legalized its production, distribution and sale. Alcohol consumption and chaotic crimes dropped instantly (Goelman, 2011). Consequently, the American criminal proper rights system felt slightly organized.
Crimes which were being fully commited due to alcoholic beverages smuggling and manufacturing had almost found a complete halt. President Rich Nixon’s initially budget for the “war upon drugs was $100 million dollars (Associated Press, 2010). If only that was the spending budget these days. Posted reports state that the Obama Administrations plan for 2011 was $15. 1 billion us dollars. Most of the funds is budgeted for law enforcement and medication interdiction uses. When Nixon first started out this movements to find prescription drugs, it was pertaining to counseling as well as for drug treatment applications. President
Reagan reinvented the “war in drugs key phrase by changing the objective from treatment to a police force presence (Jane, 2011). Considering that the early 1980’s, the number of persons being phrase to state penitentiaries have dual, even tripled in some areas. The idea of, if you lock them up, then this crimes will minimize approach have not worked over the years. The quantities have constantly gone up in both the spending budget and those becoming incarcerated. Many states include lowered medicine crimes by felonies to misdemeanors and resorted to longer, more structured probationary terms.
Even though this is one step in the right direction, not necessarily enough to put a dent in the budget or perhaps free up space to house more dangerous offenders in our prisons. Businesses over the world use simple business procedures to figure out supply and require. If there is a requirement in an area, then a shop is opened up and the goods are sold. In case the business is definitely not doing well in sales, then the retail outlet closes. If we (America) could end the urge, the addiction, or perhaps demand for specific drugs, then your business owners goes elsewhere. Medications have powerful, addictive properties and our brains are just as highly effective.
Addiction is a powerful word and is a much a more strong feeling. Not everyone locked up in penitentiary is hooked on drugs, and the features who happen to be enable these same people to sell these people drugs. Whenever we focus on counselling and preventing addiction, we will see the budget and prison overcrowding drop. I am a firm believer in what might have performed 20 years back, might not work in today’s world. With prisons being stuffed on a daily basis, this for struggling with the “war on drugs growing larger, and the with regard to drugs can be “higher than ever before, America must start a new approach just for this fight.
Since this is being known as “war in drugs, in that case we need to alter our strike strategy and try something different. Through harmful drugs and guidance, we can reduced numbers in most major classes and put the amount of money in other areas where it is necessary the most. Recommendations McVay, Deb. A. (2011, January 26). Drug Battle Facts: Good sense for Drug Policy. Retrieved from http://www. drugwarfacts. org/cms/ Shane, David, Rich, & Rob. (2010) Losing Work: The United States “War on Drugs. Retrieved via http://visualeconomics. creditloan. com/losing-effort-the-united-states-war-on-