...As public attitudes towards drugs begin to change, and the failure that is prohibition slowly dies, the populace is demanding a better drug policy from the state. The status quo of developed nations’ drug policies is prohibition, which has had minimal success to date. It continues to unfairly punish those who choose to use narcotics, and only harming themselves. In 2008, the United Nations estimated that globally, approximately 200 million people took illicit drugs at least once in the past year. The use of illicit drugs has proven to be nearly impossible to control, and the state would be better off allocating its drug enforcement resources to other sectors, such as drug treatment. Portugal portrays an accurate depiction of the effectiveness of a decriminalized state focusing on harm reduction. The state’s drug policy should be a total legalization of all drugs, with an emphasis on harm reduction, public health, and strict regulations. Prohibition has caused more harm than good for minorities and developing nations. For over a century, prohibition was believed to be the only effective method of controlling drug usage; this is no longer the case. Thus, the main objectives of prohibition are pointless to begin with. The current prohibition laws have created vast economic disparities for millions of minorities. The skewed enforcement of drug laws on minorities allows for discretionary arrest, making victimization is all too easy. Tougher drug laws are the reason why 29% of black...
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...current 'war against drugs' and its success or otherwise, globally and/or locally. Explain the debate and present an argument, supported by evidence, for either the continuation of a 'war against drugs' or for an alternative. Introduction The use of prohibited drugs has been predominant in Western society since the 19th century, with cannabis introduced to the United States in 1839, while opium was introduced to Europe and the United States through trade with China. These drugs were initially used for pharmaceutical benefits, but over time various legislatures introduced laws to administer, regulate and prohibit the use of various drugs. The declaration of ‘war on drugs’ took place in the United States of America (USA) in 1971. The historical response to the ‘war on drugs’ has been prohibition: the complete banning of drug use. This approach, which involves strict enforcement of illegal drug laws, has proven costly and ineffective (RCAP & RANZCP, 2004). This essay will focus on Australia’s current drug debate regarding the legalisation of certain prohibited illicit drugs. Whilst examining the Australian position, this essay will use international examples to illustrate how the current strategy fails and survey workable solutions. Firstly, this work examines the historical position of the ‘war on drugs’. It will outline the history of drug use in Australia and the nation’s current drug policy. This essay will then discuss the criminal, social, health and policy issues surrounding...
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...The laws for marijuana use varies a lot from the federal and state level. On a federal level, marijuana still remains a schedule 1 controlled substance. It is very much still treated like cocaine and heroin, in that it is highly addictive and has no medical value. The consequences of getting caught with it and charged on the federal side, can be very harsh. On a state level, the legality of marijuana is based on their laws that may have passed so people can have a certain amount. With that being said, there can still be issues with having marijuana dispensaries in the state of California. Since it’s still illegal on a federal level, they have been raided many times by the DEA because of this. When this happens, people are afraid to open up these shops in fear they will be forced to close because everything will be confiscated. On the state side of dealing with marijuana, the fines if any are a lot better, if there are any. In California, As of January 1 2011, possessing one ounce of marijuana or less is a minor infraction, with a maximum fine of $100. Having a larger amount, can be punishable with fines of up to $500 and six months in jail. But California medical marijuana card holders are able to grow and possess a certain amount as long as they don’t have the intentions of doing selling it. California Proposition 215 (Prop 215), Patients may have up to 8 ounces of processed marijuana or 6 mature plants. It is possible to get a medical marijuana card, depending on...
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...What are the benefits of decriminalizing any drug? “A drug is not bad. A drug is a chemical compound. The problem comes in when people who take drugs treat them like a license to behave like an asshole,” – said Frank Zappa, the American composer and rock musician and I absolutely agree with him. The dawn of the twenty first century has ushered in a new age of optimism and wonder. Despite the proclamations of television, all is not in well in our part of the world. Our societies have waged a war on drugs, but this war is far from being won. Being fought against our own citizens and citizens abroad, an international effort to eradicate drug production and use has undoubtedly failed leaving in its wake social unrest and political chaos. Assault, property crime, homicidal tendencies, racial and economic marginalization, murder, corruption and many other undesirable things are burning through society fanned by the drug war's cold and inhuman policies. In addition to these problems there are the initial problems that drug users incur on themselves and society; the same ones the drug war was supposed to eliminate. Prohibition is an old idea that is not practically attainable in a democratic society that values individual rights. – short generalization+quotation For one, experiments with the prohibition of alcohol failed miserably and cost many people their lives. If the justification behind the drug war is human health and wellbeing, as governments would have us believe, then refraining...
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...The so-called “War on Drugs,” as declared by the Nixon administration in the signing of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970, marked the beginning of the current era of mandatory minimum sentencing, racism, privatized prisons, and a powerful constituency that profits as a result of the prohibition of drugs. Psychoactive substances have been apart of the human experience as long as humans have walked the earth. There is little hope that drug production will ever be curtailed, so long as there is a demand; a demand that has remained steady even though it has been forty years since the beginning of said war. As Judge James P. Gray from the Superior Court of Orange County has so plainly put it: “Where did this policy come from? Unfortunately I have conducted an inquiry into this and I have determined that drug prohibition laws came for reasons of racism, empire building, and ignorance.”(Booth) The War on Drugs is politically motivated as a means of profiting. One may ask them self how government can financially benefit from such policies. In fact, they benefit in a myriad of ways. The government spends an exorbitant amount of money in an attempt to combat drug production and drug usage. The U.S. government has spent over a trillion—that’s right a trillion—dollars in its attempt to eradicate the drug problem. With so much time, effort and money there should be something to show, right? Wrong. Today drugs are more prevalent, more potent and cheaper than...
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...can be changed by legalizing it and therefore taking away the drug cartels number one source of income. The U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy ... says that more than 60 percent of the profits reaped by Mexican drug lords are derived from the exportation and sale of cannabis to the American market (Armentano2). It is ridiculous to think that the United States can put out a statistic like this and ignore the fact that if they legalized the drug there would be less violence because there would be no point for Mexican drug cartels to try and smuggle the drug into the U.S. In the article “Blame Prohibition, Not Pot Smokers for Violence in Mexico”, published by AlterNet.org, Tony Newman tells us how the people who run the “Just Say No” campaign against drugs have a new scheme in which they plan to blame people who smoke pot for the violence in Mexico. They are hoping to stop younger people from smoking marijuana if they associate it with the murder of people by the drug cartels in Mexico. There are a few problems with these campaigns: They are inaccurate in some cases, and downright dishonest in others.Office of National Drug Control Policy It is disingenuous to connect the average American's marijuana consumption to the horrific violence of Mexico's drug war. The average pot smoker's growing and purchasing of marijuana has no relationship to the violence along the border that is the result of large-scale drug trafficking. It isn’t hard to understand that the legalization...
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...John Finkbiner 12-12-11 Drugs and society 1. In the book, Strassman tries to illustrate through his clients the statement “these reports challenge our world view, and they raise the emotional intensity of debate: “Is it a dream? A hallucination? Or is it real?” “Where are these places? Inside or out?” in chapter 12, before introducing the different stories, Strassman states “Rarely did the DMT environment take center stage during someone’s trip” (p.176). There is no right way to answer those questions. Based on his volunteers and their experiences during their DMT trips, the one question that was answered was while tripping on this drug, what is reality? Different people saw different things, experienced different things, felt different things. But with all the people’s experiences, there were common themes in most trips; whether it was perceptions of DNA, seeing different shapes, seeing entities, or other things. From reading all of the examples, the questions above are answered by the participants as the trips are a reality. Strassman states this when he says “perhaps you think these perceptions are not so strange after all. We all dream of unusual places and things. However our volunteers not only saw these things, but felt an unshakeable certainty that they actually were there” (p.183). The volunteers all went somewhere in their trip. The felt real emotions. Aaron experienced elf like creatures standing along a highway in which he traveled regularly during one...
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...When I looked up the topic of marijuana legalization on several indexes of editorials online, I found many interesting sources, including: “Arresting the Drug Laws”, by David Silverberg (2005, p.33), “Limited victory for medical cannabis”, by Andy Coghlan (2003, p.13), and “What Do Student Drug Use Surveys Really Mean?”, by Mike A. Males (2005, pp.31-33). In, “Arresting the Drug Laws”, David Silverberg (2005, p.33) talks about an organization called LEAP, or Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. He starts off by mentioning that the group was established three years ago by two ex-cops, and has since grown to over 2,000 members. He also informs the reader that LEAP only consists of individuals with a background in law, such as prison wardens, judges, mayors, and police officers (p.33). Silverberg gives the viewpoints of several members of the organization; Jack Cole, co-founder, says that if marijuana were legalized, “Organized criminals and world terrorists would be monetarily crippled for many years to come.” Bob Owens, a former police chief, makes the analogy that the war on drugs is, “a strawman that can distract people and stir the hysteria that accompanies it. (p.33)” The author then goes on to say that LEAP predicts a $2 billion yearly profit from the taxation of marijuana if it were sold legally. He also points out that if marijuana was controlled by the government, users would know that the product would not be accompanied by any of the dangerous additives used on...
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...war on drugs, marijuana is one of the biggest enemies. And since alcohol and tobacco, two life threatening substances, are legal it is a relevant question to ask why marijuana is illegal. The taxpayers of America can partly answer this question when they fill out their tax forms and when they hear the hash rhetoric used against marijuana by the government. The fact that marijuana is illegal is sufficiently caused by the amount of money, jobs, and pride invested in the drug war. In other words, the government cannot turn back now. In order to demonstrate this cause, the difference between illegal and legal substances (specifically alcohol and marijuana) must be abolished. Alcohol, as we all know, was once illegal. The reason that it was illegal was because the ill effects of alcohol led many people to fight for the prohibition cause. Some of these ill effects are direct and some alter the behavior and motor skills of the drinker, helping them do things they would not usually do. More often than not, the direct effects result from heavy drinking, like "depression is frequently diagnosed in alcoholics" (Rittenhouse 140). But just getting drunk can do serious harm. "Accidental trauma forms the major cause of brain damage from alcohol" (140) would indicate alcohol as a threat to human health. Marijuana on the other hand seems a little out of place in its classification as illegal. The source previously cited notes that, "Although it is classified as a Schedule I drug for regulatory...
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...everything that they can to ensure that they have a stable and productive workforce. One of the most common methods for producing a stable, productive workforce in recent years has been drug testing/screening. Many believe that drug testing is a valid and useful tool available to businesses to promote a workplace culture the business prefers. Others feel that drug testing is a violation of privacy and has no place at a business. Almost everyone knows of someone that has abused drugs before, during, or after work. Not many know of how drug abuse actually affects performance and safety on the job. Determining if there is a correlation between drugs and poor performance and safety will help to validate drug testing’s presence. Ever since the technology was available, drug testing at the workplace has existed in some form or another. When Reagan became President in 1986, he began to push drug testing in the workplace, schools, and those applying for free benefits as part of the escalating war on drugs. (Butler, 2007) Since then, drug testing has proliferated to the rest of society and become almost a norm. For some businesses, it has become a major hiring tool, while for others it does not exist. For those that do use drug testing, it comes on many forms. Tests range from urine based to hair based to “Drug Recognition Experts,” (Butler, 2007) and each test has its own strengths and weaknesses. The easiest and cheapest tests to perform are urine tests. The most basic and easiest to...
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...The War on Drugs: What is America Fighting For? Sandra Gailer COM/172 September 25, 2013 + The War on Drugs: What is America Fighting For? With the number of arrests having more than tripled in the past 25 years, and billions of dollars spent annually to fund the war on drugs, the United States (U.S.) should consider decriminalizing and regulating illegal drugs to reduce the number of people incarcerated and produce tax revenue from distribution. Since it was first declared by President Nixon in 1971 (Drug Policy Alliance, n.d.) the drug war proves to be causing America more harm than good. With no end in sight, the government should not be focusing on drug prevention but rather drug policy reformation. The US has been funding the war on drugs for decades. Although the intentions behind declaring the war are to help Americans, the reality is the war continues to be causing more harm than good. America has spent at least $1 trillion dollars on the war so far (Drug Policy Alliance, n.d.). In 2010 alone, the federal government spent over $15 billion dollars funding the war, that is at a rate of about $500 per second (Drug War Clock, n.d.). With the amount of debt increasing over a billion dollars every day, our government should be directing efforts towards creating revenue instead of continuing to spend money and increasing taxes. One way to accomplish generating revenue would be if some of the drugs that are considered illegal were decriminalized and regulated by the federal...
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...Justin Cottingham English 101 TTH Mr. Mark Rooze November 23, 2009 Drug Trafficking in the U.S. In the United States, there are two basic roots of evil that inspire more than a majority of all criminal activity, greed and drugs. Money and drugs go hand in hand in the U.S. and many places all over the world. The drug epidemic has been sweeping the world and the United States rapidly. More and more Americans are admitting to using drugs regularly. “An estimated 14.8 million American currently use illicit drugs” (Go). This means there is a huge demand and a wide range of demographics for drug dealers. “The 2004 National Drug Threat Assessment reports that in adults, age eighteen to twenty-five, 15.4 percent report having used cocaine in their lifetime, 53.8 percent report having used marijuana, and 15.1 percent report having used MDMA (commonly known as "Ecstasy")” (Swanson). The U.S. government is spending billions to fight a so called war on drugs. For the past 50 years the drug trade has increasingly grown in popularity. It is the biggest money making industry in the world. It is estimated that the highest annual income is around $400 billion with a gross profit margins of 300 percent, making the drug trade worth more than the annual budget of the U.S. DOD (Department of Defense). The demand for illicit drugs is greater worldwide than the demand for textiles and automobiles. It is said that of all international trade, 8% of that is illegal narcotics, while textiles make...
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...Drug-Free Workplace Amazon.com The Drug-Free Workplace Policy enacted in 1988 to keep drug users out of the workplace and already hired employees off of drugs. At Amazon.com there is a well defined policy against illegal drugs, prescription drugs and alcoholic beverages. The writer believes that the Amazon.com policy has implemented a comprehensive drug awareness and education program. The supervisors at Amazon.com are given the proper information to reasonably suspect someone of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Once confirmation is made that a person is under the influence Amazon.com does offer a form of employee assistance program, to help the person, if addicted, to remove the use of drugs or alcohol from his or her professional life. This policy is well presented in its entirety let us take a closer look at keep factors. “By publishing a statement to all employees that possession, use, sales or unlawful manufacturing of controlled substances in the work place is prohibited and the actions that will be taken against violators of such statement”(National Drug-Free Workplace Alliance, n.d.). For legal purposes it is smart to abide by this statement from the Drug-Free Workforce Act of 1988, and Amazon.com has done this. Amazon.com (2005) Drug and Alcohol Abuse Policy states, “Open alcoholic beverages, illegal drugs and prescription drugs are not used while at work, in a work status or on company premises. Exceptions for prescription drugs are onsite medical provider...
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...1971 when President Richard Nixon began the “war on drugs.” This “war” was supposed to reduce the trade of illegal drugs, and yet, the country has seen an increase in the trade of illegal drugs. With the largest prison population in the world, the United States keeps approximately 2.3 million behind bars. Over half of that population is incarcerated for drug-related crimes. That is 1,150,000 lives wasting away in the prison system. To effectively rectify injustice, the United States government needs to end the war on drugs (“A Brief History of the Drug War,” Branson). First, the government must address the criteria for who is problematic enough to incarcerate. In 2005, the United Nations estimated that there are over 230 million illegal drug users worldwide, yet 90% of that sample is not categorized as “problematic.” Today, there are about 500,000 individuals in United States jails for nonviolent drug crimes (Branson). In fact, there are over 3,000 inmates serving life sentences without possibility of parole for nonviolent crimes in the country (Pilkington). Moreover, if the Justice System was not so preoccupied with incarcerating individuals who are posing no real threat to society, it would earn the country about $2.1 billion in taxpayer money (Schmitt, Warner, Gupta, Warner, and Gupta). That is a great sum of money which could and should be allocated to institutions that need it more, like education. With the war on drugs, the United States has become a police state. Education...
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...Policy Analysis II Lotina Kelley University of Phoenix CJA 464 Dec 3 2014 Theresa Cruz Policy Analysis II Police and corrections are two important components of the criminal justice system. They are involved in the public policy on a daily basis. Team “A” chose to research police and correction policies and describe how these policies affect the operations and decision-making process. According to Welsh and Harris, policies are described as “a rule or set of rules or guidelines for how to make a decision”; a program as “a set of services aimed at achieving specific goals and objectives within specified individuals, groups, organizations, or communities”; and a project as “a time-limited set of services provided to particular individuals, groups, organizations or communities, usually focused on a single need, problem or issue. (Harris & Welsh, 1999, p. 357).” Police and corrections policies will be summarized while analyzing their implications for the criminal justice system including the potential effectiveness and limitations. War on Drugs Policy The United States “War on Drugs” policy is thought to be one of the harshest policies around the world since implemented in the early 1980s (Winterbourne, 2012). Research suggest The war on drugs “creates problems for broken families, increased poverty, racial disparities, and wasted tax dollars, prison overcrowding and eroded civil liberties” (We are Drug Policy Alliance, 2014). Former President Richard Nixon and...
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