Narcotics Distribution, Manufacturing, and Abuse

Narcotics Distribution, Manufacturing, And Abuse

Calling drugs one of the most serious problems facing the modern criminal justice system is a gross oversimplification of a very complex problem. It is true that more criminals are involved in the criminal justice system because of drugs and drug-related offenses than for any other reason. However, it is highly contested whether many of those offenders constitute a real danger to society or whether they are actually status offenders who are being punished for their addictions and would be better served through diversion to treatment rather than being treated as criminals. The reality is that both approaches are probably somewhat correct. Low-level drug offenders who are arrested for use and minor distribution (user-to-user quantities for sale) are probably not criminals in the traditional sense and probably do not need to utilize valuable criminal justice resources. At the other end of the spectrum, to ignore the immense criminal problem linked to the drug cartels and the immense problem of organized drug distribution would be foolish; people are literally dying by the hundreds because of drug cartel wars in Mexico, and that violence has certainly spilled over the border. Therefore, it is critical to realize that a comprehensive approach is necessary to solve the drug problem in America, and that it will not be solved by a social justice or criminal justice approach, alone.

Narcotics are characterized by law as substances that either arouse or inhibits human senses, and that generally are addictive if used frequently. The global drug operation is estimated to produce $300 billion to $400 billion every year. The directive of narcotics falls into two categories. Legal narcotics are controlled by the FDA and are usually obtainable just with a doctor's prescription (Carls, 1983). The manufacture, possession, and vending of unlawful narcotics generally called controlled substances are prohibited by law and liable to punishment. Narcotics distribution, manufacturing, and abuse is a significant social problem in the United States, and solving it will require a multi-faceted approach.

Drug Abuse

At the root of the narcotics problem in the United States is the individual user and the problem of drug abuse. Putting aside the fact that drug abusers are criminals, because even the addictive use of prescription narcotics violates federal drug laws, it is important to understand that they are human beings and that drug abuse has a major, negative impact on human lives. One cannot understate the fact that drug abuse is one of the primary health problems in the United States. Moreover, it is a public health problem that places blame upon the patient. Drug addiction is stigmatized, despite the fact that most of society endorses some level of recreational drug use. However, when a person is unable to keep their drug use at a recreational level and it begins to impact their functionality, instead of offering support to the person, society treats them with condemnation. There is a distinction made between the functional alcoholic in the board room and the crack addict on the street is an arbitrary one, but it permeates the entire social justice approach to solving drug addiction.

One of the reasons that drug abuse is so stigmatized is the idea that lower socio-economic class people and minorities are more prone to drug addiction, which is not true. Drug addiction is a problem that crosses all ethnic and class boundaries. However, those in lower socio-economic classes, who do tend to be disproportionately members of minority classes, have access to fewer resources to help deal with the problems of addiction. Many people feel as if society should not have to bear the burden of treatment for these individuals because it is the individual who made the choice to use, not society as a whole. However, the reality is that society already bears the cost of drug addiction; existing social welfare and criminal justice resources are strained because of the war on drugs.

To understand the impact that drug addiction already has one society, one must understand how drugs impact society. Drug abuse also greatly contributes to violence. "At least half of the individuals arrested for major crimes including homicide, theft, and assault were under the influence of illicit drugs around the time of their arrest" (NIDA, 2005). Furthermore, drug abuse is linked to child abuse; approximately two-thirds of patients in drug abuse treatment centers report being victims of physical or sexual abuse as children and "approximately 50% to 80% of all child abuse and neglect cases substantiated by child protective services involve some degree of substance abuse by the child's parents (NIDA, 2005). Furthermore, drug addiction contributes to both poverty and homelessness. "31% of America's homeless suffer from drug abuse or alcoholism" (NIDA, 2005). Furthermore, drug abuse has a cyclical effect. Children from substance-abusing households are less likely to be able to succeed in school than children from non-using households, which contributes to drop-out rates and makes them more vulnerable to their own addictions once they reach adulthood. Finally, drug abuse also impacts the work place, illicit drug users are more likely than non-users to miss work and have higher turnover rates than non-users (NIDA).

Treatment

Obviously, any comprehensive approach to America's drug problem has to tackle the problem of treatment. Unfortunately, it is impossible to describe a single treatment strategy to help narcotics addicts. On the contrary, "treatment must be individualized, because no single treatment is appropriate for everyone or for each type of drug abuse" (Nash and Johnson, 2012). To maximize success, treatment should be readily available, addresses multiple needs not just the addiction, be modifiable as the patient changes, be on-going, focus on behavioral modification, and treat any underlying mental disorders (Nash and Johnson, 2012). In other words, treatment programs have to be very comprehensive and address any underlying social issues that would lead someone to seek out drugs.

Prevention

The most effective drug addiction treatment strategy is prevention. Prevention efforts have to be aimed at preventing teen drug use, because teen drug use oftentimes leads to adult drug addiction. Parents who want to help their children avoid addiction employ the following strategies: leading by example, being consistent, establishing firm boundaries, avoiding physical punishment, nurturing feelings of warmth towards the child, being aware of behavior problems, stay involved, seek professional support when necessary, control chaos in the home, practice authoritative parenting, be tolerant, and be effective (Hartney, 2012). Unfortunately, those at highest risk of lifelong drug abuse problems are those least likely to have parents willing to engage in those steps. There has to be some type of intervention aimed at high-risk groups. However, there remains an inadequate understanding of the underlying causes of addiction, particularly in minority communities. Racial or ethnic culture is an important context that can help influence whether adolescents will engage in drug use, making them vulnerable to drug addiction (Szapocznik et al., 2007). Therefore, ensuring that prevention efforts are tailored to the individual community is critical.

Drugs and crime

While drugs are clearly a significant social problem needing social interventions, they are also a significant criminal problem. "As many as 60% of adults in Federal prisons are there for drug-related crimes" (NIDA). Moreover, with the increasing adoption of third-strike laws designed to punish recidivist offenders comes an increasing likelihood that relatively harmless drug offenders will be imprisoned, while "dangerous" criminals are not subject to the same punishment. This argument is true, but disingenuous, because it assumes that drug offenses are basically victimless crimes of choice, and that addiction is the driving factor behind all drug offenses. To the people who advocate for this position, the total solution to America's criminal drug problem is to legalize drugs. However, legalization is a simplistic approach that ignores the serious and significant underlying criminality behind much of America's narcotics distribution network. Just like ending Prohibition did not end organized crime in the United States, but simply led to a shift in efforts from alcohol distribution and sales, legalizing narcotics would not result in the end of drug-related organized crime.

One of the problems with America's current drug law enforcement system is that it does appear to be marred by significant racial discrimination. African-Americans are about 10% of the American population, but constitute 53.5% of who enter prison because of a drug conviction (Gorvin, 2008). Blacks are more than 10 times as likely as whites to enter prison for drug offenses (Gorvin, 2008). A black man is 11.8 times more likely to enter prison for drug offenses than a white man and a black woman is 4.8 times as likely as a white woman to enter prison for drug related offenses (Gorvin, 2008). Moreover, African-Americans in prison are far more likely to be there for drug-related offenses than non-drug-related offenses; two out of five African-Americans in prison are there for drug-related offenses compared to one in four whites in prison (Gorvin, 2008). Therefore, it may be very important to investigate the exact nature of the offense for which people are being convicted. Perhaps one of the goals of a proposed solution would be to significantly differentiate in the criminalization of users as compared to the criminalization of distributors.

Law enforcement and narcotics trafficking

In fact, one of the things that many Americans may fail to understand is that there is a relationship between the domestic narcotics industry and international terrorism. Illegal drug trafficking is an international crime problem, and it is rarer that criminal enterprises limit themselves to a single illegal activity. Many criminal enterprises involved in narcotics distribution are also involved in the trafficking of humans and weapons. Furthermore, much of America's narcotic supply comes from Afghanistan, where its production and distribution can provide revenue for terrorist organizations. "The specific dynamics of the linkage between narcotics and conflict remain poorly understood. Evolving theory on the link between organized crime and terrorism enhances and supplements the debate on economic incentives in civil war, proposing mechanisms whereby insurgent groups interact with narcotics production -- a crime -- rebellion nexus" (Cornell, 2007). This nexus is not yet fully understood and there is some disagreement about whether existing drug cultivation helps create terrorist conditions or whether terrorist consciously choose to cultivate drugs as a source of funding. However, "studies of nine major narcotics-producing areas indicate strong support for this nexus. Rather than generating or being generated by drug cultivation, armed conflict qualitatively and quantitatively transforms existing drug cultivation. Importantly, armed conflict is itself deeply affected by the narcotics industry, which tends to strengthen the capacity of insurgent movements while weakening that of the state" (Cornell, 2007). An excellent example of this phenomenon is modern day Mexico, where an out-of-control drug culture has rendered the state virtually powerless within a matter of just a few decades. This has created a de-facto state of war in Mexico, which spills over into the United States on a regular basis. "A momentous aspect of the crime -- rebellion nexus is the effect that the drug industry tends to have on the motivational structures of insurgent groups: criminal involvement in some instances creates an economic function of war and vested interests in the continuation of armed conflict. This has substantial implications for strategies to resolve armed conflict involving the production and trafficking of illicit drugs" (Cornell, 2007).

The fact that narcotics trafficking is linked to terrorism gives the United States some interesting tools for fighting narcotics distribution. The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, 20 Stat. L., 145, 10 U.S.C.S. 375 § 15 generally prohibits the United States government from employing any part of the Army to enforce the civil laws of the United States. However, while that law would prevent the deployment of troops at the local level in response to a purely civilian law enforcement matter, it does not prevent the federal government from authorizing the use of military forces to battle threats against homeland security, including narcotics trafficking. The federal government has done so. In 1981 and in 1988, the federal government passed specific drug-related exceptions to the Posse Comitatus act. "The new exceptions allow broad military assistance for the drug war. Soldiers may assist drug law enforcement agencies in surveillance and similar activities, although soldiers are still not supposed to confront civilians directly. Military equipment may be loaned to law enforcement agencies, and the military may train law enforcement agencies. The equipment and training may be for any purpose. If the purpose is drug enforcement, then the equipment and training are free; if not for drug war purposes, the civilian agency must merely reimburse the military for the training and the equipment" (Kopel, 2011).