Drugs in Prison Essay

The United States has the world's highest incarceration rate. With five percent of the world's population, our country houses nearly twenty-five percent of the world's reported prisoners. Currently there are approximately two million people in American prisons or jails. Since 1984 the prison population for drug offenders has risen from ten percent to now over thirty percent of the total prison population. Federal prisons were estimated to hold 179,204 sentenced inmates in 2007; 95,446 for drug offenses. State prisons held a total of 1,296,700 inmates in 2005; 253,300 for drug offenses. Sixty percent of the drug offenders in prisons are nonviolent and were purely in prison because of drug offenses (Drug War Facts). The question then arises,

Prisons hide prisoners from society. “If an inmate population is shut in, the free community is shut out, and the vision of men held in custody is, in part, prevented from arising to prick the conscience of those who abide by the social rules” (Sykes, 1958, 8). The prison is an instrument of the state. However, the prison reacts and acts based on other groups in the free community. Some believe imprisonment

The permanence of one’s social exile is often the hardest to swallow. For many it seems unconceivable that for a minor offense, you can be subjected to discrimination, scorn, and exclusion for the rest of your life. When someone is convicted of crime today, their debt to society is never paid. The cruel hand that Frederick Douglas spoke of more than 150 years ago has appeared once again. In every state across our nation, African Americans, particularly in the poorest neighborhoods, are subjected to tactics and practices that would result in public outrage and scandal if committed in middle-class white neighborhoods. When the War on Drugs gained full steam in the mid-1980’s, prison admissions for African Americans skyrocketed , nearly quadrupling

Drug courts are specialised programs aimed at criminal offenders who suffer from drug and alcohol addiction (US Department of Justice, 2015, p.1). Drug courts improve offenders’ quality of life by decreasing substance dependency and improve mental wellbeing. Jane Lee, for the Age, explains people facing jail for drug and alcohol charges may be placed on a two-year treatment order, instead of serving jail time. The purpose of a drug court is to secure and maintain drug users in treatment, reduce non-violent incarceration rates and recidivism among prior offenders (Belenko, 1998, p.6).

Drugs and our youth, the numbers are rising. More and more children today are using drugs without their parents knowing. What happens when they get caught? It all depends on who caught them. If it is the parents, usually a big punishment. If it is law enforcement they may have to appear in front of drug courts specialized to handle juvenile cases. Sometimes the parents may even turn them in, just for the treatment and help these special courts can offer. The juveniles are then referred to juvenile drug courts for help. Today there are 72 juvenile drug courts in operation in 41 states in the United States, with more to come in the future What exactly is a juvenile drug court? What do they do? How do

and out of the prison system, the control of (or lack there of) by prison

The War on Drugs and Mass Incarceration have been two very well-known topics of society. While these have taken place during the Cold War, there is still a continuance in them today. The impact that has been left on society from these issues have stuck around, while mass incarceration is still of talk today.

Prisons and jails hold some similar characteristics but are completely different models in which they serve in the criminal justice system. Some of the types of crimes that America faces today are: violent crimes, property, white collar or organized crime, and public order crimes (Worrall, 2008). The criminal justice system sets the regulations and policies of how an offender will be held accountable for their inappropriate actions. The criminal justice system is a process that takes time and money from society. The following information will briefly discuss the main purposes for the jail and prison systems, which will focus on the length of sentencing, funding sources, and private sector ownership. Let’s begin by explaining the length of

Drug abuse is shown to be connected to all different kinds of crime in the United States, and in many circumstances, crime is inspired by drug abuse and addiction. In fact, 80% of criminal offenders abuse drugs or alcohol (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). Also, 60% of those who are arrested test positive for illicit drugs when they are arrested, and 60-80% commit another crime, typically drug-related, after leaving prison (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). And, even after these individuals put in the time in prison that would allow them to go through the uncomfortable process of detoxing, 95% of them will chose to go back to drug abuse after prison (National Association of Drug Court Professionals). Given these overwhelming statistics, it is clear that drug abuse, and repeated or continued drug abuse, are a serious problem facing the criminal justice system.

I believe the percentages of Hispanic and African Americans incarcerated contributes to non-violent offenders placed in the American prison system. As of December 24th, 2016, 82.415 persons detained were locked up for drug offenses. Drug offenses made up 46.4% of all the listed offenses for imprisonment (Federal Bureau of Prisons, n.d.). Of those in prison, 110,871 were white, 71,647 were black, and 63,198 were Hispanic (Federal Bureau of Prisons, n.d.). It is my opinion that decriminalization and drug reform would improve drug infested communities, get non-violent drug offenders out of our prison system and assist communities to resolve the violence that follows substance abuse.

Throughout U.S governmental history, policies have been known to affect the way of life and every aspect. The topic it choose to research is about “The War on Drugs”, the impact policies have on society and if it does help the public or tend to extent social inequality. This topic is very important to me in the sense that, I look at the community I live and see how drugs have affected people lifes, broken up families and also destroyed the community itself. I wanted to know if the “war on drugs” stop our neighborhood from being flooded with drugs or it just over shadow the real problems that needs to be tackled.

In many large state prison systems, a mix of inmage ingenuity, complicit visitors and corrupt staff, has kept the level of inmate drug abuse constant over the past decade despite concerted efforts to reduce it. A recent increase in cell-phone smuggling has complicated matters, with inmates sometimes using phones to arrange drug deliveries. It seems that the prison wall has become less and less of a secure boundary. The mention of the game “Whac-a-Mole,” where, as soon as one pesky mole is smashed, another pops up, is applied numerous times to this endless battle. Drugs reach inmates in many well thought out ways. Visiting relatives and friends, by mail, by inmates smuggling in drugs dropped off by associates at off-prison work sites, and

My thoughts on someone that has been incarcerated for drugs would be completely different than someone that has been incarcerated for alcohol since drugs have dangerous dealers/drug lords. Although I’m not saying that alcohol isn’t dangerous, it’s as dangerous as drugs in general. From the source Prisonpolicy.org, it says, the number of people that have been locked up and what kind of prisons they have them put in for drugs, alcohol and other illegal situations. In state prisons, it says that 200,000 was for drugs and drug possession. In drug possession, it’s 45,000 and for drugs, in general, it’s 155,000. In local jails it’s 35,000 convicted, in Federal prisons and jails it’s 82,000 convicted for drugs and Marshals it’s 18,000 for drugs. In alcohol Public order, driving under the influence is 26,000 and that’s the only one for alcohol use on the chart.

The United States Correctional System is often challenged as to whether it wants to rehabilitate drug offenders or punish them, and because of this it mostly does neither. Even though drug abuse and drug trafficking are widely spread national issues, the mental, social, and economic costs of "healing" through incarceration are only making the "disease" worse. Never before have more prisoners been locked up on drug offenses than today. Mixed with the extremely high risks of today's prison environment, the concept of incarceration as punishment for drug offenders cannot be successful. Without the correct form of rehabilitation through treatment within Michigan's Correctional System, drug

The “War on Drugs” is the name given to the battle of prohibition that the United States has been fighting for over forty years. And it has been America’s longest war. The “war” was officially declared by President Richard Nixon in the 1970’s due to the abuse of illegitimate drugs. Nixon claimed it as “public enemy number one” and enacted laws to fight the importation of narcotics. The United States’ War on Drugs began in response to cocaine trafficking in the late 1980’s. As the war continues to go on, winning it hardly seems feasible. As stated by NewsHour, the National Office of Drug Control Policy spends approximately nineteen billion dollars a year trying to stop the drug trade. The expenses shoot up, indirectly, through crime,