In his article, “Toward a Policy on Drugs,” Elliot Currie discusses “the magnitude and severity of our drug crisis” (para. 21), and how “no other country has anything resembling the American drug problem” (para. 21). The best way to describe America’s drug problem is that it is a hole continuously digs itself deeper. America’s drug issues were likely comparable to other country’s at one point in time, but today it can be blamed on the “street cultures” (para. 21) that continue to use and spread the use of illegal drugs. These street cultures transcend the common stereotype of drug users, such as low income communities in cities or welfare recipients, and can be found in every economic class and location. They are groups of people who have
Methamphetamine is a major dilemma in the United States, and Caldwell county is no exception to this developing problem that can have lasting impacts on society. These impacts are not only limited to destroying lives of the people but also impacting entire communities due to the notorious history of this lethal drug. There are limitless long and short term effects of Meth that can occur to any one person that even attempts the drug on any instance. Methamphetamines can be very destructive to the communities that surround where it is being produced, sold, and abused. Many communities in Caldwell County experience these impacts and suffer through them even today. The conviction rate of methamphetamine abuse has risen in Caldwell County and to
Amidst the ever-occurring tragedies that now seem to be part of our daily routine lies an ongoing affliction that tends to go unnoticed. Although it has been increasing drastically in the last few decades, substance abuse continues to fly under the radar of the average American citizen. Yet, for many of us, it is an unavoidable sight. As citizens of Seattle, we need to find a way to reach out to those that need our help.
BELENKO, S., & PEUGH, J. (1998). Fighting crime by treating substance abuse. Issues in Science and Technology, 15(1), 53-60.
NAMI & Active Minds join us to discuss how they help students living w/ mental illness or addiction on college campuses
We have been fighting drug abuse for almost a century. The war on drugs is a growing problem in America everyday. This war is becoming an unfortunate loss. Our courts, hospitals, and prisons are continuously being filled with drug abusers. Violent crime the ravages our neighborhood is a result of the drug trade. Drug abusers’ children are neglected, abused, and even abandoned. In the 1870’s, anti-opium laws were first directed and Chinese immigrants. During the early 1900’s, in the South, the first anti-cocaine laws were directed at black men. In the 1910’s and 1920’s, in the Midwest and Southwest the first anti-marijuana laws were directed at Mexicans – both immigrants and Americans. In modern time, major disproportioned drug enforcement
Drug use impacts perception, a skill adolescent brains are actively trying to cultivate, and can fracture developing neural pathways. Additionally, as our brains are becoming hardwired during adolescence, the pathways being reinforced are the ones that stick. If those pathways include addiction, the impact may lead to life-long challenges. As the epidemic of teen non-medical prescription use and abuse increases, we as a nation need to consider solutions that will insure that our children have a future, redoubling our efforts to modernize strategies that will confront the public health problems we are facing pertaining to our youth. Specific strategies that address the facets of teen life such as peer pressure, decision making, and academic progress, how they spend their free time and choosing friends. “With an approach that involves standardized assessments, early intervention, and promotes teamwork between parents, physicians and educators” Arria, Amelia M. (pp. 43). The rate of prescription drug abuse among adolescents has increased dramatically over the past decade. Prescription drugs are the second most commonly abused illicit drug among adolescents, surpassed only by marijuana. Monitoring the future means that we intentionally generate accurate data that will direct our efforts in designing
The article is aimed at finding out the reasons that influenced school districts to continue with the D.A.R.E program despite all criticism and undesirable evaluation evidence presented by the media and some scholars. This program was developed in Los Angeles in 1983. Police officers visited elementary schools (particularly 5th or 6th grade). These officers provided information about drugs and the results of their use. Some scholars believed that the program was ineffective in averting drug use among adolescents. These scholars argue that the popularity of the program sounds like it’s an effective and efficient program, yet it was a failure according to their evaluation evidence. Furthermore, the point out that it did not reduce substance
For example, agencies have been established with the sole intent to manage drug use and distribution and technology has been exclusively developed to detect the presence of drugs. Yet, evidence has indicated that such exhaustive efforts have been relatively unsuccessful. First, it has been assumed that drugs have perpetuated violence in society and based on this rationale, it was believed that by the suppressing the pervasiveness of drugs that incidents of violence would simultaneously diminish. However, reality has failed to align with the expectations that had initially been anticipated. Research findings have suggested that the decriminalization of drugs would result in a less adversarial drug market in which conflicts have tended to arise among dealers as well as between dealers and buyers (Common Sense for Drug Policy, 2007, p. 21). Essentially, although drugs have been held accountable for gang violence and other acts of violence that have occurred within communities, the illegality of drugs indeed may have aggravated the situation.
Some areas in the United States face higher rates of crime and drug abuse. This contributes to the prevalence of health disparities within different communities. In order to eliminate or decrease the distinct difference between areas that are at higher health risks than others one must begin to understand why they exist.
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.
How are the messages the same? How are they different? How is the use of visual imagery the same or different?
The drinking age in America has been unchanged over many years but I believe that this is one area of law that should stopped being overlooked as it may be the cause for many unforeseen negative effects. The amount of taxpayers money that is spent on the current law system is outrageous for many reasons, one reason is the number of people in jail or correctional facilities. As we move on to try and better our society in gender inequality and many other areas this is a area that deserves to be targeted as well. One of the ways we could limit the number of people in the law system is ridding the system of unjust laws. Another way is to try to teach people the effects of using alcohol in a responsible manner. This is not a topic that should only
According to Timothy Wilens MD, there is “data indicating that 1 in 10 adolescents has a SUD [substance use disorder] . . . Roughly 80% experienced onset before age 25 years” (Wilens). With this large number of teens abusing drugs, the question of what the effects and consequences of drug abuse as a teen are becomes relevant. Specifically, identifying what the effects and consequences of teen drug abuse are through a scientific lense is important because drugs affect the body, brain, and its chemical balances.
Every day on the news there are all kinds of reports. Crime reports are a major part of today's events. Almost every day there are posts about crimes. The level of crime has risen immensely in every corner of the world. People have tried to understand the causes of crime, but if we look around the world we can see that many of the crimes are caused by people who abuse drugs and alcohol, people who think negatively towards others, and poverty.