Many governments may struggle with whether to just decriminalize or legalize a drug entirely. Which is better for the government financially and more importantly the people? First we must understand the difference between decriminalization and legalization and the advantages and disadvantages. “Decriminalization does not mean that people can use drugs with impunity. But, possessing small amounts no longer lands the perpetrator with a criminal record or a jail sentence.” (Define Decriminalization) Before…
A major drug policy issue concerning Canadians today is the legalization of cannabis. Undeterred by nearly a century of prohibition, millions of Canadians consume cannabis regularly. While the ban of cannabis creates billions of dollars in expenses, which are exhausted on ineffective anti-drug efforts and has caused criminal activities such as gang violence and weapons smuggling. This in turn has placed a tremendous financial burden on our society. By legalizing cannabis, organized crime will take a financial blow, thereby reducing the opportunity for youth to join gangs, potentially lowering crime rates and creating safer neighborhoods.…
Legalizing does not mean giving up on the problem; it rather means regulation and control over the situation. Contrasting the problem, criminalization means prohibition. The U.S cannot regulate what it prohibits, and drugs are too dangerous to remain unregulated. Prohibition will not help anyone, just like the U.S prohibited alcohol during the 20’s and 30’s, and it did not work. It is happening exactly like it with the drugs. U.S News & World Report writer Peter Moskos says, “ Illegal drug dealers sell to anyone. Legal Ones are licensed and help keep drugs such as beer, cigarettes, and pharmaceuticals away from minors. Illegal dealers settle disputes with guns, when on the other hand; legal ones solve theirs in court. Illegal dealers fear police, and legal ones fear IRS” (8). What Moskos is trying to explain is that by regulating the drugs things are kept under control. Usually people fall for drugs in a high percentage because it is “illegal”, and usually what we can have is what we want. By legalizing the U.S will be hitting hard the drug dealer’s economy and devastating their dirty, corrupt cartels. It is or choice to legalize drugs or pass through a second century of failed prohibition. Government regulation might not sound as powerful as “war on drugs” but it will do its job. (Moskos…
* Drug dealers (including some terrorists) would lose most or all of their business.Perhaps the biggest opponents of legalizing drugs are the drug dealers themselves. They make their enormous sums of money because of the absence of competition and the monstrous street prices that come from the increased risk. Legalization would lower prices and open competition; thus, drug cartels (that might include terrorists) would lose all or some of their…
The United States has the highest incarceration percentage in the world. Mass incarceration is the result of people breaking the laws or committing offenses. Bill Clinton and his administration was one of the presidents that led to a massive mass incarceration. He passed a bill that extended criminal offenses, and he also gave money to build new prisons. Mass incarceration is also a result of poverty and discrimination of African Americans. In the other hand, Drug law violations have been one of the main reasons why people are incarcerated.…
Office of National Drug Control Policy. National Drug Control Budget: FY 2014 Funding Highlights. Washington, DC: Executive Office of the President, April 2013. Web. Feb. 19. 2014…
One must wonder if the "war on drugs" helps or hinders our American Criminal Justice System when you look at the overwhelming impact it has had on crowding issues within our prisons. At the present time there are over 1.5 million people in prison, 59.6 % for drug offenses alone.…
In the news I recently heard about a young girl who was playing in her front yard in the middle of the day when an illegal drug deal was happening right across the street. Apparently, the illegal drug buy went wrong and the gang members started shooting at one another, when one of the bullets hit the young girl. She laid on the grown of her front yard lifeless because of selfish gang members. If drugs become legalized incent people wouldn’t die. Drug uses could just go to the store to buy their drugs and incent people wouldn’t get hurt. The government could also tax the drugs, which could help…
References: JRank.org, Prisons: Problems and Prospects - Prisons And The War On Drugs., (2011). Retrieved from:…
University of Phoenix Criminal Justice Administration CJA 453 Juan Campos February 5, 2009War on Drugs and Prison Overcrowding Prison overcrowding is a major problem1in our criminal justice system and it continues to bea hotly debated topic as to how we should address the problem. One of the main reasons our prison systems have a problem with overcrowding is drugs. More specifically, the "war on drugs" started by President Reagan in 1982 brought a dramatic increase1to the number of people put behind barsfor drug offenses.…
Introduction- Drugs are considered to be a modern day issue. However, if we look to the archeological records, we would find that our ancestors used drugs such as, alcohol, opium, cocoa, magic mushrooms among others for both medical and spiritual purposes. Throughout the years many policies have been created in order to minimize the use of drugs. For example, the first anti-opium laws were directed at the Chinese immigrants in the 1870's. In the 1900’s, an anti-cocaine laws were directed in the South at the black men. But it wasn’t until the 60’s where drugs became a big problem to society. Some Presidents have tried to propose and implement what they believed would be beneficial for our nation. Some of those implementations have succeeded…
Yes, criminalizing drugs is to attribute for the majority of gang violence and incarceration in the U.S. An article written by the National Drug Intelligence Center says, “Street gang members convert powdered cocaine into crack cocaine and produce most of the PCP available in the United States.Gangs, primarily OMGs, also produce marijuana and methamphetamine. Some gangs collect millions of dollars per month selling illegal drugs, trafficking weapons, operating prostitution rings, and selling stolen property.” Yes, if drugs were legalized they wouldn't be the driving force of the 21,500 gangs in America. Is it justified to give into the evil found within gangs in order to stop the violence? No, diminishing the criminalization of drugs to decrease…
While legalizing marijuana may decrease the amount of drug related arrests and stops made by cops, it is ultimately hurting law enforcement in the long run. Marijuana related charges make up the majority of cases filed in police departments because it is still illegal in many states. In those cases, regardless if marijuana was actually found, money tied to marijuana using or trading is found, and kept by the police department. Therefore, legalizing marijuana may negatively affect the careers of law enforcement officials because less traffic stops would happen. “If legalization leads to fewer searches, that means fewer seizures of cash and property, which could have a significant negative impact on the finances of police departments that have…
Imagine a world where drugs are legal, walking down the street and seeing people on drugs everywhere. Where almost everyone is going into convenient stores buying crack, marijuana, or even heroin. What kind of world would this be, to see junkies on the side of the road and it is perfectly legal. To see more crime than ever before from people who are trying to steal, kill, and rob just to get a fix.…
Drugs are related to crime in multiple ways. Most obviously because it is a crime to use, possess, manufacture, or distribute classified drugs.…