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Invisibleteknix
π“‚€βŸπ“…’π“π“…ƒπ“Š°π“‰‘ 𓁼𓆗⨻
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Registered: 09/16/08
Posts: 11,953
Re: Greetings Earthlings [Re: Dreamer Kat]
    #14421020 - 05/08/11 06:34 PM (12 years, 8 months ago)

Quote:

Dreamer Kat said:
This may be a bit long, but I wrote this a couple years ago . . .

America's Failing Drug War:

An Indictment

            The drug war began in 1982 when the Reagan administration perceived a high rate of drug abuse in the nation.  The tactics for the war on drugs involved focusing on the punishment of drug crimes and teaching our youth to "just say no."  These tactics have proven to be very costly and ineffective.  The war on drugs is a war on people, unfairly incarcerating thousands of Americans every year.  The cost of the war on drugs is simply too high for its lack of effect.  A drug policy with an emphasis on public health and education is needed to prevent the negative effects of drugs in our society.

            One objective of the war on drugs is to reduce the supply of drugs.  According to the Office of National Drug Control Policy, if this were being achieved, the prices of drugs would be raising and the potency of drugs would be lowering (1998).  According to the Common Sense for Drug Policy [CSDP], heroin price has decreased significantly over time while the purity has sharply increased (1999).  While the price of cocaine was $275.12 per gram in 1981, it dropped to $94.52 in 1996 (CSDP, 1999).  The drug war creates a high price in America, because the demand and risk are high.  While opium will sell in Pakistan for $90 a kilogram, it is worth $290,000 in the United States (Associated Press, 1997).  Such artificial inflation of drug prices lends itself to further crime when people become addicted and may commit robbery and other crimes to achieve the high their bodies and minds demand.

            An emphasis on convicting drug criminals has led to staggeringly high incarceration rates in America.  The Department of Justice attributes an 85% increase in the federal prison population from 1985 to 1995 due to drug convictions (1996).  The number of arrests for drug charges was 581,000 in 1980, nearly tripling to a record high of 1,584,000 by 1997 (FBI).  Furthermore in 1999, 80.5% of drug arrests were for possession alone, whereas 19.5% of arrests were for drug sales (FBI, 1999).  The notion that drug crime legislation targets high-end drug lords is disproved, and the facts are that the war on drugs has a devastating effect on Americans whose only crime was possession.

            Furthering the high incarceration rates, new mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines have led to a significant increase in the amount of drug crime prisoners and an increase in their sentenced time.  Mandatory minimum sentencing laws largely remove the judge from the criminal justice process, instead relying on laws and statutes which do not consider individual factors of the case.  Since the enactment of mandatory minimum sentencing for drug users, the Federal Bureau of Prisons budget increased by more than 1,350%, from $220 million in 1986 to about $3.19 billion in 1997(Bureau of Justice Statistics [BJS], 1997).  Since these minimum sentencing laws have been enacted, the chance of receiving a prison term for a drug offense arrest rose 447% from 1980 and 1992 (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 1995).  The average sentence of drug offenders have increased since 1986, when the average term was 22 months in prison, to 62 months in prison in 1999 (BJS, 1999).  We are punishing drug offenders more harshly than ever before, yet imprisonment has shown no effect on drug use.

            To combine with the lengthier prison sentences, the punishment of drug crimes includes the denial of government services, most often for life.  The federal "One-Strike" policy gives public housing agencies and landlords the right to evict any person involved in "drug-related criminal activity," regardless of where that activity occurred.  A person with a drug conviction may fast find themselves homeless.  The Higher Education Act was amended in 1998 so persons with drug convictions cannot receive federal funding to attend college.  "A student who has been convicted of any offense under any federal or state law involving the possession or sale of a controlled substance is not eligible to receive any grant, loan, or work assistance," according to the Drug Policy Alliance [DPA]  (2003).  There are no such statutes on housing or financial aid imposed on rapists, murderers, or other violent offenders; these unfair barriers are exclusive to persons with drug convictions.

Welfare and cash benefits are denied for life to persons convicted of a drug crime felony.  Currently, states can opt to not punish drug offenders in this manner; however, 21 states enforce the ban completely, resulting in a lifetime denial of cash benefits and food stamps (DPA, 2003).  Eighteen states have modified the ban to either only effect persons convicted of drug sale crimes, limit the time frame of the ban, or allow benefits to those in treatment.  When you combine these denials of benefits, it paints a very bleak picture: a person who cannot go to college, is homeless, and hungry.  These conditions can easily lead to further crime.  The disenfranchised person concludes the government has turned its back on them, and they must provide for themselves.  Our drug war laws are unfair and do not fit the crime, continuing punishment long after the drug convict had served their time.

The war on drugs also has the fault of being racist.  According to The Sentencing Project, African Americans represent 58% of drug offense prisoners.  However, they comprise only 13% of the nation's monthly drug users (2001).  Crack cocaine, predominantly used in minority and low-income communities, is prosecuted in a harsher manner than powder cocaine is.  Both powder and crack cocaine have the same chemical structure and same effects.  Crack cocaine carries a mandatory five year sentence for selling five grams, whereas a powder cocaine seller must sell five hundred grams to receive the same sentence (United States Sentencing Commission, 1984).  The war on drugs must be fixed to stop the racial disparity.

            The war on drugs currently allows little treatment for drug addiction, a chronic disease that affects both the brain and behavior in which a person compulsively seeks and uses drugs despite harmful consequences.  While the initial decision to begin taking drugs is voluntary, the brain changes caused by drug addiction impair judgment, decision making, learning, and memory (Volkow, 2007.).  Medication can be useful in the treatment of addiction, used to treat withdrawal symptoms, maintain treatment, and prevent relapses.  While medication alone is not adequate, the most effective drug addiction treatments combine medicine with behavior modification techniques.

            A successful drug rehabilitation program, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse [NIDA] Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment (Leshner, 1999), is appropriate for the individual, readily available, adjusts to the changing multiple individual needs, and combines medication with counseling and behavior therapy.  It is important that a patient remain in treatment for the necessary amount of time as well as participate in maintenance programs to prevent relapses.  There are a variety of treatment programs ranging from hospitalization, residential, inpatient, and outpatient programs.  Since drug addiction is a chronic disease, ongoing support systems are necessary to maintain drug rehabilitation.  There are more than 11,000 drug treatment facilities in the United States available to provide treatment to persons with drug addiction programs.  Punitive punishment in America's legal system has no effect on reducing drug addiction, but there are proven treatment methods for the treatment of drug addiction.

            According to the ONDCP, 66% of the National Drug Control Budget is spent on law enforcement, with 22% spent on treatment, and the remaining 12% on youth drug prevention ( McCaffrey, 1998).  This is a clear indicator of the priorities of the government:  punishing drug offenders is its top priority, with preventing youth from abusing drugs being low on its agenda.  If our society endeavors to be free of drug problems, we must begin by addressing the needs of our youth, the key to our future.  The National Institute of Justice proclaimed D.A.R.E. has "a limited to essentially non-existent effect" on drug use (Research Triangle Institute, 1994).  Our current youth drug prevention programs are simply not working

            Programs must reflect the special needs of the population it is addressing, specifically in regards to age, gender, and ethnicity.  Programs should be comprehensive and address abuse of all drugs, including legal, prescription, and illicit drugs.  Prevention programs are most beneficial when the community is actively involved in the anti-drug messages and when the message is consistent.  Research-based prevention programs aim to decrease risk factors, such as aggressiveness and poor academics, and increase protective factors, such as strong family ties and academic success (National Institute of Drug Abuse, 2003).

Availability

            The "just say no" approach to youth drug prevention has been ineffective.  In fact, the National Institute of Justice proclaimed federally-funded D.A.R.E. has "a limited to essentially non-existent effect" on drug use (Research Triangle Institute, 1994).  The availability of marijuana, for example, has remained constant.  In 1975, 87% of youth ranked marijuana as "very easy" or "fairly easy" to obtain.  In 1998, 89.6% of youth rated marijuana as just as easy to obtain.  The exposure to drugs has remained constant.  The National Institute of Drug Abuse reports that nearly 80% of youth who used illicit drugs in the past year were exposed to prevention messages (2000).  These prevention messages have thus far failed to deter youth away from drugs, and the criminal drug laws have failed to keep drugs out of the hands of our children. 

            Another issue of the war on drugs is the people who are being arrested for drug charges.  Our current practices rely on chance arrests.  This is not an effective means to treat a drug problem for the nation.  It's a matter of chance if a person who uses drugs will be caught and convicted.  The results of a 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health show that 112,085 thousand persons aged twelve or older have used illicit drugs in their lifetime, yet it is not conceivable to arrest all of these people (2006).  They have all broken the law, but they will not all be subject to the law because many of them will never be caught.  The lack of continuity in crime and punishment is evident, yet we continue to cling to this system of random drug arrests.

            The debate of allowing marijuana use for medical reasons continues to rage.  Marijuana has shown to be beneficial in pain relief, the control of nausea and vomiting, and appetite stimulation (Benson, Joy, & Watson,1999).  While nine states have passed medical marijuana initiatives and two states have medical marijuana laws, no physician may prescribe marijuana without the threat of revoking his license and jail time.  Any person using marijuana medically can be prosecuted by the federal government, even when the state government has declared it a legal practice.  This is a clear violation of the Constitution's Tenth Amendment, which states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."  The power to regulate drugs is not given expressly by the constitution;  it is therefore the right of each individual state to decide if drugs should be illegal or legal.  The federal government has overstepped its boundaries, and the states must reclaim their constitutional rights to regulate drugs as they deem necessary.

            The war on drugs advocates prohibition, which has been an American tradition when dealing with drug abuse for centuries.  In 1920, the nation adopted a policy of prohibition of alcohol.  Bootleggers transported alcohol among the states while speakeasies became commonplace.  The nation's demand for alcohol was not deterred by making it illegal.  Instances of alcoholism increased under prohibition.  In 1933, prohibition of alcohol was repealed, and we have not returned to that method of controlling alcohol use and abuse.  The learning curve of America proved to be low when in 1937, marijuana prohibition began and has continued into the current century.  Prohibition has never been an effective means to prevent drug use, but it is still the stance that America maintains.

            A far more balanced approach to the drug problem can be seen in the model provided by the Netherlands.  The Netherlands separates the market for illegal drugs into "soft drugs," comprised of 'acceptable risk' drug users, and "hard drugs," comprised of 'unacceptable risk' drug users (Abraham, 1999).  .  Soft drugs refer to drugs including marijuana/cannabis, hash, and naturally occurring hallucinogens such as mescaline and psilocybin (mushrooms).  This important differentiation between drugs with high risks of addiction and high levels of intoxication helps to clarify the problems with drug use.  Soft drugs are often used responsibly, whereas the high rates of addiction associated with harder drugs indicates that these drugs are more likely to be abused.

            It is important to note that the decriminalization of soft drugs in the Netherlands has not contributed to an increase in drug use.  The lifetime prevalence of marijuana use is 36.9% in the United States (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2002) and only 17% in the Netherlands (Trimbos Institute, 2002).  The culture created by allowing soft drugs to be sold in government-regulated coffee shops has not contributed to an increase in use or abuse, whereas the punitive criminal laws in America have contributed to an increase in both use and abuse.

            The war on drugs in America has breed unforeseeable negative consequences.  To reverse these effects, we must take a few steps back and reevaluate the effects of their efforts thus far and the bearing of emerging research.  Punishing nonviolent offenders with jail time and taking away their financial aid, housing, and welfare benefits does not deter the amount of drug use.  It punishes citizens unnecessarily and drains our nation of billions of tax dollars.  Our youth prevention programs need a revamping to be effectual for today's youth.  Fairness and equality should prevail in our justice system with drug laws that do not punish the addict and availability of treatment programs for addiction.  A sweeping policy change is in order;  until that time, the war on drugs remains a war on people.






References



Abraham, Manja D., University of Amsterdam, Centre for Drug Research, Places of Drug Purchase in The Netherlands (Amsterdam: University of Amsterdam, September 1999), pp. 1-5.
Associated Press. (1997, June 26). "U.N. estimates drug business equal to eight percent of world trade."
Benson, J., Joy, J., & Watson, S.
            "Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base," Division of Neuroscience and Behavioral Research, Institute of Medicine (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1999).

Bureau of Justice Statistics [BJS].  , Prisoners in 1994, 1 995, p. 13.

BJS.  Department of Justice.  Prisoners in 1996.

Washington, DC: Department of Justice.

BJS, Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics (Washington, DC:

US Government Printing Office, 1997), p. 20; Office of National Drug Control Policy, Executive Office of the White House, National Drug Control Strategy, 1997: Budget Summary (Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1997), p. 111.

BJS, Federal Criminal Case Processing, 1999, February 2001, p. 1.

Common Sense for Drug Policy.  (1999).  The Effective National Drug Control Strategy,

            1999

Drug Policy Alliance. (2003).

            Barriers to Re-entry for Convicted Drug Offenders.

Retrieved March 1, 2007 from http://www.lindesmith.com/library/factsheets/ barriers

FBI. Crime in the United States, various years.

FBI.  (1999.) Crime in the United States, 1999, p. 221.

Leshner, A.  (1999).

National Institute on Drug Abuse Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment: A Research Based Guide  pp.3-5

McCaffrey, B. (1998).

The National Drug Control Strategy, 1998: A Ten Year Plan.

Washington, DC: Office of National Drug Control Policy, p. 58.

National Institute on Drug Abuse.  (2003).

Preventing Drug Abuse Among Children and Adolescents  p.15

2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. (2006).

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Office of Applied Studies


Office of Applied Studies.  (2000). National Institute on Drug Abuse,

National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Main Findings 1998 (Rockville, MD: SAMHSA, US Department of Health and Human Services), p. 174.

Office of National Drug Control Policy. (1998). Performance Measures of Effectiveness.      Washington, DC. p. 13.

Research Triangle Institute. (1994).

Past and Future Directions of the D.A.R.E. Program

Retrieved February 4, 2007 from http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/ GOVPUBS/retri94.htm

The Sentencing Project.  (2001). Drug Policy and the Criminal Justice System, 2001,

pp.4-5

Trimbos Institute.  (2002). "Report to the EMCDDA by the Reitox National Focal Point,

The Netherlands Drug Situation 2002" (Lisboa, Portugal: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Nov. 2002), p. 28, Table 2.1.

US Department of Health and Human Services.  (2002.) Substance Abuse and Mental

Health Services Administration, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse: Volume I. Summary of National Findings (Washington, DC: HHS), p. 109,

Table H.1.
United States Sentencing Commission.  (2002). Report on Cocaine and Federal Sentencing                    Policy Chapter 6: The National Legislative and Law Enforcement Response to Cocaine


Volkow, N. (2007).

National Institute on Drug Abuse. Drugs, Brains, and Behavior:  The Science of Addiction  pp. 23-24

I later was questioned about inflation, so I did some research.  Here's what I have found: (http://www.westegg.com/inflation/infl.cgi)

The Price of Cocaine:
What cost $275.12 in 1981 would cost $507.16 in 1996.
What cost $94.52 in 1996 would cost $51.27 in 1981.

If we compared the cost for 1981:
      1981      1996
1981 $275.12    $507.16
1996 $51.27      $94.52



Prison Costs:
What cost $220,000,000 in 1986 would cost $319,786,306.16 in 1997.
What cost $3,190,000,000 in 1997 would cost $2,194,590,532.73 in 1986.

So, if we compared the costs for 1986: We spent $220,000,000 in 1986-which increased to spending $2,194,590,532.73

Accounting for inflation, the prison budget has increased 9.97 fold!

If we compared the costs for 1997: We spent $319,786,306.16 in 1986. We then increased to $3,190,000,000 in 1997.

Again, accounting for inflation, the prison budget has increased 9.97 fold!




Impressive! :congrats:

Welcome :highfive:


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InvisibleDreamer Kat
Stranger
Female


Registered: 04/18/11
Posts: 11
Loc: Indiana
Re: Greetings Earthlings [Re: teknix]
    #14422172 - 05/08/11 10:06 PM (12 years, 8 months ago)

Thanks, Sunset Mission.  What's Gandhi smoking?

MisterMuscaria, the southeastern part :smile:

Thanks, Teknix.  That was a fun paper to write.  Did a ton of research, and it wrote itself.


--------------------
If most of us are ashamed of shabby clothes and shoddy furniture, let us be more ashamed of shabby ideas and shoddy philosophies . . . It would be a sad situation if the wrapper were better than the meat wrapped inside it.


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Offlinesunset_mission
Entheonaut
Male User Gallery


Registered: 01/22/11
Posts: 5,767
Loc: NYC (Intra Deitate...)
Last seen: 5 years, 5 months
Re: Greetings Earthlings [Re: Dreamer Kat]
    #14422183 - 05/08/11 10:08 PM (12 years, 8 months ago)

:ghandi: smokes infinity

but sunset_mission smokes DMT. :awecid:


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OfflineAnthony917
why dont we do it in the road
 User Gallery


Registered: 05/14/09
Posts: 3,243
Loc: Earth
Last seen: 12 years, 2 months
Re: Greetings Earthlings [Re: sunset_mission]
    #14422207 - 05/08/11 10:12 PM (12 years, 8 months ago)

a lot of DMT :lol:


--------------------
Prisoner#1 said: I got my ass kicked by a 9yo when I was 17
Trippin? Click Me




What is life? I'm tired of life...


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