Alcohol Prohibition And Crime Analysis

For over a century, America has waged a failing war on drugs even as it feeds a cultural apathetic and underground acceptance of drug and alcohol use. The views of the dominate group have placed blame on society’s ills on the evils of rampant drug use throughout the past few hundred years, which have given way to a practice of outlawing , persecution, and imprisonment. Such a view has led to the overflow of our state’s prisons, the race to build even more, and need to

From 1920-33, a mandate under the 18th amendment prohibited the distribution and consumption of alcohol in the United States of America. During this period, the number of federal convicts increased by 561% as well as organized crime among mafia and gangs. This leads to questioning the extent to which government health restrictions increased crime rate during the Prohibition of 1920-1933. To assess this topic, I will first research the history of alcohol consumption and the causes of the Volstead act proposed by the U.S. senate on December 18, 1917 (Hanson, “Alcohol”). I will then delve into the change in crime during this period and investigate important characters that played a role. From this, I will assess the part that the government restriction of alcohol played on crime rate.

This report starts off with an overview of drug courts are, then moves into the overall problem with drug control in the United States. They talk about the history and the rise in drug offenses during the 1980’s causing the prison populations to rise. When comparing the rise of drug offenses, they found it was both state and federal level. The growth of drug offenses became approximately one in every 198 persons was incarcerated. About nine years later, the first drug court was established. Courts, jails, and prisons were seeing a pattern with the number of low level repeat drug offenders and street dealers starting to cause problems with overcrowding . The drug court movement was a shift from law enforcement’s emphasis on reducing drug use.

Today, nearly 40 years later, there is plenty of scientific support and evidence to trigger a solid effort in changing policies and public opinion in reference to addiction. Evidently there is a distinction between drug crimes due to personal consumption and drug crimes due to distribution intent.

In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, drug use became a major concern for most Americans. As the War on Drugs and “Just Say No” campaign were being thrust into the spotlight by the government and media, the public became more aware of the scope of drug use and abuse in this country. The federal and states’ governments quickly responded by creating and implementing more harsh and punitive punishments for drug offenses. Most of these laws have either remained unchanged or become stricter in the years since then.

Drugs have played a part of the United States of America criminal justice fabric for generations. The scare tactics of the 1960s gave way to the contradictory messages of the late ’70s and early ’80s. In the 1970’s drugs became glamorous and recreational to many citizens. Prior to the 1970’s, citizens that abuse drugs was seen by policymakers as suffering from a social disease that could only be helped by treatment. Policymakers posture change drastically in the mid 70’s. In 1973, only twelve percent of the population reported to the Gallup poll that they had tried drugs. By 1977, that number was doubled. Notably, in 1978, 66 percent of Americans said Marijuana was becoming a serious issue in their respective communities (Riley, K.

The number of people incarcerated in America has steeply risen since the beginning of the War on Drugs. In 1980, about 300,000 individuals were in jail. (Alexander, 2010) In 2000, the number rose to over one million, and at the start of 2008, there were 2.3 million adults in prison in America (Pew Center on the States, 2008). These increases in the rate of incarceration are traceable to the War on Drugs (Nunn, 2001). “Convictions for drug offenses are the single most important cause of the explosion in incarceration in the United States (Alexander, 2010).” Drug offenses account for two thirds of the rise in the federal prison population between 1985 and 2000 (Nunn, 2001).

During the 1930s the average American that was 15 years or older would drink seven gallons of pure alcohol a year, three times more than the average American drinks now!1 Prohibition was sparked by women since they were the ones who suffered the most. Women did not have many rights, so when they got abused by drunk men it was seen as a small issue. Women and other groups eventually got 46 of the 48 states to ratify the 18th amendment on January 16,1919.2 The 18th amendment on article one says "...the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited."3 The first article on the 18th amendment is saying that the sale, making, or even bringing liquor into the United States or any of the United States' territory will now be illegal. Prohibition began to show its weakness right away when the United Sates government did not show much support. After the first year of prohibition the American people started to show less support and even led to organized crime. In 1933, the United States Constitution was amended to repeal the 18th amendment in the form of the 21st amendment.4 Even though prohibition seemed like a great idea it failed due to lack of support, illegal operations, and alcohol addictions that the American people had.

Among highly developed nations, the United States is known for its stringent illegal drug use policy and the high percentages of its population that have consumed illegal substances. The United States has issued a drug war against millions of Americans who use and sell illegal substances. This war has cost taxpayers billions annually and continues to contribute to an incarceration rate that surpasses any other country (Walmsley 2009). Although, stringent policies have lowered the decline in U.S drug consumption since the 1970’s, the war on drugs in the United States has not succeeded in changing America from being the world leaders in use rates for illegal drugs.

Our criminal justice system has undoubtedly failed to effectively deal with the issue of illegal drugs use, and to address the underlying issues of problematic drug users. Surely, the use of illegal drugs does not belong in the criminal justice system, but is a matter that needs to be dealt with from a public health perspective. As Toby Seddon Articulates:

The US needs to reduce its spending on penalization and law enforcement and focus more on education, prevention, and treatment. Some of the measures taken to eliminate the sources have yielded; nonetheless, the law should protect the citizens from discrimination by race in the process. The US prisons have a large number of people charged with drug related crimes, but most of these offenders are people of color accused of minor offenses. Substance Abuse and Criminal Justice System According to research, no other issue in the last two decades has had more impact on the criminal justice system than the “war on drugs” policy (Stevenson, 2011). The policy has contributed to an enormous growth of American prisons and a disproportional impact on the minorities and the low-income communities. The policy has only focused on punishment rather than treatment of the issue. Many Americans have complained about the policies and why the government is reluctant to make these policies target the big fish who are the main culprits of the issue (Stevenson, 2011). Discussed below are the many problems that have been brought about by the drug policy. •

There is a debate in the American government system on how to handle the use of drug and alcohol. In the 1960s drugs were uprising along with youth rebellion and in 1971 Nixon declared a “War on Drugs” (Citation a brief). This name is not to be confused with the band War on Drugs, but the term is still popularly used to describe the policies that Government officials are making regarding drugs and alcohol. This debate got reheated when Colorado legalized weed for medical and recreational use, followed by several other states. There has slowly been a shift in mindset from, “alcoholics are drug addicts are all criminals and we (the law) should throw them in jail” to “addiction is a disease.” Even the way that addicts/alcoholics are treated has changed to treatment centers with specialist versus throwing them in the hospital to detox and hoping for a change. Policies that are shifting the penalty from incarceration to treatment reflect these changes and help the individual suffering from the disease to get back on their feet. The war on drugs rings on, but changes are being made.

It is also clear that there is a connection between drug taking and crime but the link is not as clear to get an arcuate reading from this. It could be considered that they are factors that incline that people to have different behaviors and drug misuse. Or is it that one could lead to another. We will consider at some length to what is being done to help police drug crime and conclude that it is being challenged every day by the police and other organizations because of the ever-increasing problem in society, such that

Bertram et al. states that drug related crimes is not necessarily the result of drug use but rather of the conditions under which people are constrained, by drug prohibition policies, to purchase and sell drugs. The sorts of unlawful acts and crimes related to drugs are, to a great extent, made by drug policies. Laws that make drug ownership illegal, create the largest amount of drug criminals. Different crimes, for example, violent acts and burglary, are created by underground markets (black markets) in which drugs are traded. Our government is ensuring the monopoly of the black market by restricting the utilization of non-prescribed drugs. There is a great interest for which there must be a great supply and the present laws prohibiting drug exchange and usage encourage the development of these underground markets.

Drug abuse is an issue growing exponentially among the citizens of the USA. Drugs abuse is extremely detrimental to the user and all those who are close to the user. Millions of people use drugs all across the globe, as a matter of fact, USA is the largest drug market in the world. Major cities of USA are in the grasp of drug jeopardy, equally important, college and high school students help sustain this evil. Drug abuse directly impacts an enormous amount of people in the USA. Drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, and marijuana play a large role in ruining the life of a user. The US federal government requires the fortification of drug laws in order to preserve the vital well being of its citizens.