Argumentative Essay On Drug Courts

isn’t the only thing people believe needs to change; the reasons for arrests have been criticized by many. America incarcerates more citizens for drug related crimes than any other place in the world. Of the roughly 200,000 in federal prison, 52% are being held for drug crimes and only 8% are for violent crimes, such as: murder, assault, and robbery (Waldman, 2013). Many believe that the “War on Drugs” must become less aggressive because of its large contribution to the prison population. The distribution of prisoners by race has also raised concern among Americans.

The justice system has to take a new approach to enforce law that place minor drug offenses in jail for long periods of time and actually

In 1989, the first Drug Court was created in Miami-Dade County after the courts were fed up with the same offenders and the growing drug cases. A group of individuals employed with the justice system decided to look for a better method of trying drug offenses by forming a drug court division. The group of individual’s solution for the repeated offenses and offenders was to combine drug therapy treatment with the legal authority of the courts. As a team, the drug court concept was effective in c correcting the lifestyle and behaviors of drug offenders. With its success, Miami-Dade Drug court sparked an effective trend and sparked the formation of 492 Drug Courts in the United States and continues to influence justice systems.

Overview: The purpose of the Executive Summary, The Multi-Site Adult Drug Court Evaluation: Executive Summary (Rossman, Roman, Zweig, Rempel, Lindquist, 2011), was to show how Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center (UI-JCP), RTI International (RTI) and Center for Court Innovation (CCI) conducted research on how drug courts impact the overall crimes related to drugs. The main issue being explored is how well the drug courts are doing to help lower crime revolving around the drug epidemic. This issue is significant to criminal justice because it shows that the United States has a serious drug dilemma that started in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s that has to be combated by government and law enforcement agencies. This includes the issue you of whether or not drug courts are actually helping reduce crime.

The first drug court was established in Miami-Dade, Florida in 1989. Drug courts were established because of the “revolving door of drug use” and increasing recidivism rates. Drug courts have the ability to change a person’s life for the better by teaching them how to beat their addictions while providing the proper treatments for each offender. As a result, of the ongoing development of drug courts it is unfair to expect the system to be indefectible. Still, there are many benefits in participating in the drug court system.

1. Title of Research Topic - Juvenile substance abuse: A comparison of effectiveness and recidivism rates among offenders within drug-court programs and those sentenced to traditional sentencing. 2. Introduction of Topic – The late 20th century witnessed an alarming increase in substance abuse in the United States, and today, it still continues to rage on, coupled with a continuously expanding inmate population. Therefore, in order to battle this disastrous obstacle, the first ever drug court was established in Miami-Dade County, Florida in 1989.

There are two theories of drug court that not has been proven, but has led to further discussion on the topic. The participants in drug court are predominately Caucasians and African Americans. Drug court participants are made up of 62% Caucasians, 21% African American, 10% Hispanic or Latinos and 5% of other racial groups throughout the US. The first theory of drug court was based on research that drug court offenders are more likely to have positive results related to graduation and recidivism.

The purpose of this literature review is to prove that drug court programs are an effective alternative to incarceration for people struggling with substance abuse issues. According to the Bureau of Justice statistics seventeen percent of prisoners at the state level were incarcerated due to drug related crimes. Eighteen percent of federal cases were related to drugs (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2004). According to Lutze and Van Wormer the drug court model was formulated in response to the revolving cycle involved with substance addiction and crime.

The initial thinking behind the creation of minimum mandatory sentences was created by congress to aim in the capture and imprisonment of high level drug traffickers, and deter others from entering into drug trafficking or using illegal substances, which would create a safer society. However, the nation prison has been expanded with low level street drug dealers, and the accessibility to illegal drugs is more obtainable then before the enactment of the mandatory sentencing act. In fact, the number of drug offenders in federal prisons has increased 21 times since 1980. Contrary to what congress has believed in the past about the dangers of crack cocaine compared to that in powder form has been proven to be untrue, but little has been done to reduce the number of prisons affected by that belief.

A national assessment of 29 drug courts found that some these tribunals altogether diminish drug backslide and criminal conduct, both elements that improve the probability of imprisonment (Rossman, 2011). Research demonstrates that drug court members were necessarily more improbable than the examination gatherings to report utilizing illegal drugs (56% versus 76%) and had fundamentally less useful biomarker tests for drug use (29% versus 46%) at 18-month preliminary. Drug court members were likewise altogether more averse to report perpetrating violations (40% versus 53%). A meta-analysis of 18 essentially semi-exploratory investigations of psychological well-being court 's demonstrated that emotional wellness court members additionally would be wise to criminal equity results than comparative correlation bunches (Journal of Criminal Justice, 2011). Be that as it may, emotional well-being courts have for the most part not been compelling at enhancing psychological wellness results—and poor mental well-being results may add to inevitable detainment (Law and Human Behavior, 2011).

The government and administrators of prisons and treatment centers are trying to lower the cost of incarceration and treatment centers. Treatment centers are the more expensive option but it last longer and has more permanent effects in low level drug criminals. The family and individual want the easiest option that helps them or their children to treat their addiction. They want to use treatment centers to treat the addiction to prevent them crime again. The effectiveness of prisons and treatment centers vary.

The Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison Program is another attempt to provide better treatment for people who are convicted. The study showed that drug offenders who underwent a treatment program outside of prison had a 26 percent less rate of re-arrest after two years than a control group that was sent to prison (Justice Policy Institute, 2010). Rehabilitative programs like the Second Chance Act and the Drug Treatment Alternative-to-Prison Program has shown to growth and positive

Another specialized court that a community might benefit from establishing is a mental health court. The aim of mental health courts is to connect people with mental illness, that display deviant behavior, to mental health resources and social services that can better deal with cases such as these as an option for individuals who need to be treated more than they need to be imprisoned (A Promising Alternative, 2011). One good reason to creating drug and mental health courts in a community is their goal to problem solve rather than just push defendants through the conveyor belt or revolving door

Drug offenders often spend most of their life in prison, and once they are released, they have no knowledge or skills pertaining to the real world.

As of recent, the war on drugs has been a very often discussed topic due to many controversial issues. Some people believe the War on Drugs has been quite successful due to the amount of drugs seized and the amount of drug kingpins arrested. I believe this to be the wrong mindset when it comes to the war on drugs. The war on drugs isn’t a winnable one so we must do all that is possible to assist those who struggle with drug addiction and decriminalize small amounts of drugs. These minor changes in the way we combat drugs will create significant change and have lasting effects.