Drug Use
Crime has become a very contentious issue of late, due in part to worldwide economic turmoil. Individual are now without employment or a stable source of income. Wages are dropping, deficits are increasing, and individuals are without work. As a result of these disparities, crime rates tend to rise as individuals justify such behavior within themselves. This is particularly true of individuals with recurring credit problems, mortgages due, or in the worst instances, families. These individuals, although they don't have a stable source of income, must still pay its debtors or creditors. As such, crime tends to rise during periods of economic or social unrest (Hugo, 1987). A broad view of the world provides a great application of this theory in a practical sense. Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans. In many instances, individuals stole television, electronics, and other valuables from neighbor's homes. Police, in one incident beat an innocent 64-year-old man (Flaherty, 2007). Keith Griffin, a New Orleans police officer was booked with aggravated rate and kidnapping. In France, as the financial crisis grips all of Europe, unemployment is nearly 24% as the nation deals with austerity measures. All of these incidents lead to crime in some form irrespective of the individual (Gardner, 1978). Crimes,...
Below is a chart reinforcing my theory. Notice how crime and unemployment seem to mirror each other.
Drug use is no different in this regard. Much like unemployment and crime, there is a distinct correlation between drug use and crime. As such, it is my contention that drug use will have a profound impact on the future of
America.
To begin, drug use is a very contentious issue in regards to
criminal activity. There has not been a viable solution to many of the drug
crimes plaguing civilized society. In some instances, many pundits have proposed legalizing drugs such as
marijuana to help abate the influence of crime. I agree that legalizing drugs would reduce "criminal" behavior. This is due primarily to the fact that the use of drugs will no longer be "criminal" in a sense. Legalizing
murder would reduce the "criminal" act of murder but would not reduce its incidence and subsequent cost to
society in regards to ill will or negative sentiments. In fact the cost to society would be even larger in the murder example, as victim's
family now has a legal ground to murder the original offender. As such a cycle, of devastating events will ensure. The same occurs with drug use, albeit on a minor scale.…
