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Drugs should be treated in the same way by the law. The population that uses drugs may be more likely to engage in criminal activity, true, but causation does not imply causality, in other words, drug use may be a common behavior adopted by individuals in crime-ridden areas, which are filled with persons who do not mind violating the law. But the drugs themselves do not increase crime any more than wearing baggy pants or adopting a 'gangster' fashion style causes a person to act in a criminal fashion. 7/8 of hard drug users (cocaine, heroin) are never apprehended, and the jails are already overstuffed with drug users (48). Even the law itself is bitterly ironic -- the more potent the drug, the less one needs to get high, yet the more drug in a user's possession, regardless of potency, the more serious the crime. Emphasizing legal policy and a policing policy that targets the demand rather than the supply side of drug use seems to create more injustice than it promotes. It does not deter users or promote the well-being of American citizens. Even if abandoning the war on drugs from a supply side may be unlikely, targeting the demand side with offers of treatment, not threats of prison, seems like a more rational approach after reading this book.
The way that drug criminalization is defended in relation to adolescents is that drug abuse is a risk to their health. But drug experimenters actually score higher on tests of psychological health than abstainers or heavy users (78). Husak writes, why should putting your health at risk be criminal? After all, he points out that the Food and Drug Administration makes the selling, but not the consumption of tainted foodstuffs illegal. Here, his analogy begins to collapse, however, because it is illegal to ride one's bike without a helmet in many states, or to drive without wearing a seatbelt. Also, the consumption of
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Works Cited
Husak, Douglas. (2002). Legalize This!: The Case for Decriminalizing Drugs. New York:
Verso.
Works Cited
Husak, Douglas. (2002). Legalize This!: The Case for Decriminalizing Drugs. New York:
Verso.
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
Drug Use and Abuse Drug abuse Caetano (1997, 58) in his studies describe drug abuse as the poor pattern of substance or drug consumption that results to harm on one's health and when you think about the word drugs, what comes to mind? It's in our human nature to instantly think about someone using crack or codeine. So therefore; we just stereo-typed someone we knew nothing about, it's what makes us humans.
Drug Trafficking The author of this report is to answer a few questions relating to drug trafficking. The primary focus of the questions and answers will be on two sources in particular, those being the movie Traffic and the class text authored by Thio, Calhoun and Conyers. The questions include references to the links between drugs and crime, the roles and events surrounding certain people in Traffic and so forth. There
legalizing activities such as recreational drug use that do not affect anyone other than the person who chooses to engage in the activity. In the sense that one's actions and choices always affect one's family and loved ones, the decision to take drugs impacts on their lives, but that is outside the realm of government legislation. The decision to smoke cigarettes or to skydive can also be said to
Drug Legalization LEGALIZATION OF RECREATIONAL DRUG USE In 1920 the sale and consumption of alcohol was criminalized across the United States pursuant to the 18th Amendment. Consumer demand nevertheless presented a ripe opportunity for criminal usurpation of the illicit production and distribution of alcohol. Consequently, by the time Prohibition was subsequently repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933, the criminal enterprises that it had spawned were so firmly entrenched into the landscape of the
Drugs and Behavior What are drugs exactly and what are some ways drug users get away with illegal usage? Defining drugs use is a surprisingly difficult proposition. The definition as stated in the session II review is as follows: "any substance taken into the body that alters the function or structure of the body organs ... that changes body state or mental function." But this definition might not only apply to the