Introduction
Drug legalization and the war on drugs have been a major issue of concern in the 21stcentuary. A lot of money is spent across the world fighting drug abuse, rehabilitating drug addicts, and fighting drug-related crime. One way or another, everyone is affected directly or indirectly by this issue of drug abuse. Whereas other parties are fighting drugs and drug abuse, there are those others that are in full support of drug legalization. For instance, there has been an ongoing movement for the legalization of Marijuana in all 50 states of America. Fortunately or unfortunately the ‘legalize marijuana’ side is on the verge of winning the motion. Release, a drug charity that presented an open letter asking the government to consider possession of marijuana as not a criminal offense, argues that arresting users creates more harm to the users, their families, and society as a whole (Katel, 19). It can further be argued that, if users are not arrested for possession of marijuana, they have a better chance of escaping addiction. On the other hand, the legalization of marijuana as in this case may increase the curiosity of users. Once the drug is legalized, the users may want to try something now illegal, say cocaine or heroin for that matter. This essay seeks to analyze how crime in the drug legalization and war on drugs has become a key issue in society, how it comes about, and how to counter the issue.
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Drug-related crime is a major problem affecting society. It is an issue that should be addressed. A survey carried out in 2015 showed that a higher 30% of inmates in the state human behavior. In her quote, “…the mind shapes itself to the body, and, roaming round its gilt cage, only seeks to adorn its prison said they were arrested committing crimes to acquire money to acquire drugs. Another 20% claim that they were arrested for trafficking or selling drugs (Belenko, 272). This shows that drug-related offenses are committed by both the traffickers and the drug users. But a bigger percentage goes to the users trying to acquire funds illegally to sustain their habits. It is argued that traffickers are left out of the hook because they can bribe their ways out. Some of the criminal activities that come with drugs are murder, woman battering and child abuse, sexual assault, driving and operating machinery under the influence. The first effect of drug abuse is addiction. Addiction creates a major pathway to crime. At some point, the drugs become part and parcel of the user. However, both drug legalization and the war on drugs can bring about addiction. When one becomes dependent on a given drug; they may tend to engage in criminal activities to find means of affording the drugs (Wilson, 32). The urge to abuse substances is almost unmanageable one would do anything.
Drug users continue to fill the courts, prisons, hospitals, and even morgues. This is because they often involve themselves in criminal activities that are most of the time violent. Opponents of drug prohibition argue that the drug business is violent and criminal by nature. It is considered a crime to use, possess, manufacture, or distributes drugs. The drug market creates a platform for those who have already been involved in criminal activities and thus cannot get a legal job. Most people have a natural respect for the law. Consequences against drugs have barred some from drug abuse. Legitimate business people are unlikely to sell drugs as they will face charges and do time. On the other hand, for toughened crimes, selling drugs will just be another charge on top of the long list of charges. Therefore, they only worry about being caught as the penalty is serving a prison sentence (Felson, 7).
When people involved in drugs are taken to serve time, their families, especially children become vulnerable. There is no breadwinner no more. The children have to deal with the situation at hand (Alcohol and Drug Use, 3). Some of them end up trafficking and abusing substances at a very young age. With the drug-related crimes in the drug business, most of them end up losing their lives to drugs, gunshots or end up being imprisoned at a very young age. Technically, you cannot sue somebody for a drug debt. So the only way to collect your money is by applying muscle, and violence tends to come in here. In the same way, if there is a suspected mole in the drug business, they are also eliminated before they sell out the whole squad. At the end of the day, there has to be bloodshed in the drug industry. It dictates that prohibition causes aggression. Money from prohibited substances is untaxed and thus enough to finance criminal organizations. In this case, drug cartels are run purely on drug money. It is a lot of money which makes the dealers go out of control with their killings and criminal activities. It is argued that decriminalization will take the profits out of the drugs. This means drugs will move from the streets to the shops. Is this a good or bad thing?
By contrast, according to the advocates of decriminalization, when commodities are legalized, crime goes on the down-low. The drug lords become legitimate businessmen and on the other hand, users become normal customers. The law and court orders will apply to all, this will reduce kill rates. Generally, legal markets discourage violence according to the advocates of decriminalization. But in a real sense, decriminalization will only end crimes related to dealing and trafficking. Not the crimes committed by people under the influence. Actually, the rational behavior of drug users increases in an environment where the drugs are cheap and easily available. The legalization of drugs will not reduce crime. Alcohol is legal and its use is a concern in society. More violent crime, especially domestic violence, is committed under the influence of alcohol than drugs. Much drug-related crime is committed because drug use changed the behavior of offenders and enabled them to act violently. Legalizing drugs will not stop this behavior change from occurring in people who use drugs. Without an understanding of the effects of drugs, decriminalization is a gamble. Although legalizing will cut crimes having to do with the sale of some drugs, it will increase other sorts of crime that result from drug abuse.
With the legalization of drugs, the quality of the commodity is not put into consideration. Anyone is entitled to sell drugs. Drugs that are of bad quality may have bad consequences on the users, even death. There will be more cases of drug overdoses because, with legalization, the drugs will be easily and cheaply available. Because of these, even underage people can be able to access, afford, and abuse drugs. There is no realistic way of stopping drug use. When prohibited, most users would consider the consequences and reconsider using illegal substances (Golub, 606). On the other hand, some choose to break the law however much it may be enforced. Legalizing itself is not the best option in this case. Once Marijuana is legalized, users may opt to try out cocaine or heroin which will then be illegal. Statistics confirm that crime is on the rise in countries where drug use has been legalized. Individuals who use, sell, manufacture, and distribute drugs have already branded themselves as people who break the law and likely to commit other related crimes like robbery. Legalizing drugs keeps these people out of prison and that is not very safe for society. They become free on the streets able to cause havoc.
A survey from Indiana University shows that alcohol and other drugs are abused more frequently by students and at a young age. Legalizing drugs will not make users tired of it. The newer generation may adapt it and continue with it as a trend (Drug and Alcohol use increases among Indiana students, p.8). A drug that is legal for adults can be easily be accessed by the underage. While the legalization of drugs may decrease crime rates in some areas, it increases crime rates in others. Traffic offenses and other accidents are definitely going to be on the rise with the legalization. People will tend to drive or operate machinery while intoxicated which may result in injuries and even deaths. Toxicological tests confirm that a great percentage of accidents that happen are due to the influence of drugs (Walsh et al, 244). This is also considered a criminal. On the other hand with the legalization of the drug businesses now leaves the drug lords jobless. Considering their profile, a legal job is not possible for them. They may opt for revenge or involve themselves in the other left criminal activities like illegal selling firearms. The problem of drugs may appear impossible to deal with but the crime menace in drug dealings can still be fought. Some strategies can be laid to at least weaken if not do away with the hold of drugs on society. The dangers arising from drug activities are too great to avoid for us and future generations.
The first strategy is education. More educated people mean more understanding of people. Education helps people separate the good from the bad. Creating awareness is a very important aspect of this battle. Children need to be schooled both at home and in school about drugs and their effects. Counselors and parents need to talk to their children and people at risk to help them become responsible. With this awareness, they can avoid drugs and the influence of peer pressure. On the other hand, education may cause curiosity. Some people want to find out for themselves if something is good or bad as they are told. They will try these drugs on purpose to get the feeling. However, the main target of this knowledge should also be the user. Some users can be helped before they become addicts. Those that are already addicts can be taken to rehabilitation institutions where they could receive the help they need (Walters, 10).
Another strategy to cub the drug-related criminal activities is for the government and other government bodies to create job opportunities for the youth. As said, an idle mind is the devil’s workshop. The idle youth tend to venture into drugs and the drug-related crimes follow. People who have already been involved in crime tend to be discriminated against from getting legal jobs. This should not be the case; they should also get a second chance. The creation of job opportunities should be to prevent people from venturing into the drug world and also to rehabilitate those already affected. When adult addicts lose their jobs, they also lose the means of catering for themselves and those who depend on them. Where else would they turn to if not a crime? There is an increased crime rate from the dealers profiting from dealing drugs and from the addicts who go extreme extents to support their habits. An increase in police manpower and other related resources will help cub this. This comes at a cost of straining the state’s financial sector. It is better than losing the generations to drug abuse and other drug-related crimes. Also, effective laws against drug smuggling and other drug-related activities should be put in place to address this issue. Increasing the police resources and putting up laws alone is not enough. Corruption is another aspect that should be dealt with to realize the goal of cutting down on drug use and other drug-related crimes. Increasing the police manpower does not help if the police will take bribes allowing trafficking? Setting effective laws will not be effective either if the judges take bribes letting the offenders roam the streets freely (Kondracke, 360).
From my research and what I have written, I strongly believe that educating the public on the major effects of drug abuse and creating awareness of its side effects should be acted upon by the government and society. Imagine if small children are taught about the effects drugs have from the moment they start school they will definitely grow up knowing that using a substance is not the best way and will fear for their lives. Awareness therefore should not be created at a later age when the kids are already exposed to drugs but should be done from the beginning. If this is done, I believe the damages that result at a later age can be minimized rather than wait for a later age. The government should work hand in hand with parents and come up with better ways of reducing substance abuse and creating awareness at earlier ages as prevention is always better than cure. This method I stand will work if not to fully stop the drug abuse but to reduce it to the minimum. Secondly another solution I believe should work if put into practice is creating more job opportunities. If the government creates job opportunities for the youth, very few will be idle enough to turn to drugs as either dealers or users. This is because they will have a constant flow of cash like every end month when they are paid and hence will definitely budget with that till the next pay date.
Drug dealers do what they do because they need money to run their everyday activities and think of if there were more jobs created by the government; they would not turn to drug selling as their source of income. Children whose parents are drug dealers most of them turn to drugs most of the time as compared to those children whose parents have white-collar jobs (Walters, 15). This is because they have easy access to these drugs and as much as their parents might not allow them to use them, they can always take them without the knowledge of their parents. If more job opportunities were created by the government and they made sure the number of jobless people reduced by at least 50%, then most kids whose parents are drug dealers would no longer have access to these drugs. This will help control the causes of drug abuse for the access would be denied and those people who bought the drugs from the dealers would no longer have people to sell them these drugs. I, therefore, ask the government to think about the creation of jobs and make it a priority in the control of drug abuse.
The significance of drug-related crimes might include death and addiction. The individuals who use drugs and commit crimes get addicted to both of them. This is because in most cases, they might not get caught and get away with these crimes. They then keep doing it because they acquire the goods for free and never get caught at all. In cases where they are caught, in some cases, they are taken in by the officers but in unlucky situations, they get caught up and sometimes shot at by the police officers. This causes death at young ages and children are sometimes left behind very vulnerable. If the government could prioritize creating more job opportunities, then these cases would be reduced to the very least. These would save the lives of youths and give opportunities to the jobless. Therefore, I can proudly say that more job opportunities reduce drug use and save the lives of both the youth and parents.
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