...The Decriminalization of Drugs: Costs and Benefits to Society The University of Pennsylvania Michael F. Harker March 21, 2009 Criminology 200-401 Instructor: John MacDonald Abstract History In 1973 the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was formed to control drugs in America. Cocaine became popular again towards the end of the 1970’s followed by crack in the 1980’s (DuPont, 1995, p. 463). These two drugs helped to account for a large increase in violence that was spreading like a pandemic. Today the DEA still faces large problems with crime due to drugs;however it is now in the form of organized crime. It is becoming increasingly difficult to stop shipments of drugs into and out of the U.S. as the leaders of drug cartelsare beginning to set up headquarters in foreign countries. If the U.S. does not take some action with reducing the penalty for certain drugs, then these drug lords will continue with their violent ways, and America will face even more problems with drugs than it currently does. The Problems Faced Today and Their Solutions A major concern of many proponents of decriminalization is that of the economic burden on society. Gary E. Johnson, former governor of New Mexico, stated,“legalization means we educate, regulate, tax and control the estimated four hundred billion dollar a year drug industry” (Johnson, 2001). By reducing the amount of money that is spend on the whole system for controlling drugs, the government would have more money to spend...
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...I believe that every human has that right to decision want to do with their bodys. I believe that every drug should be decriminalized because the decision of taking drug should be up to the person and not the government. A person should not be punished for doing something that they chose to do to themselves. Even if it hurts their body. I know many people that srmoke cannabis on a daily and they are very productive people. Sometimes they blend into regular people so good that you surprised when they tell you that they do drugs. Even when cannabis got legalised in some states, there is still a federal ban on it which causes people that have been arrested and detained for cannabis will still be prosecuted for it even though it is legal in their...
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...Paraphrasing Practice Decriminalization of Marijuana Author: Lucia Pizzo Throughout the early 2000s, many states decriminalized marijuana. Levels of decriminalization varied with regard to the amount of marijuana in possession and whether the drug was for personal use, cultivation, or distribution. By 2010, marijuana had been at least partially decriminalized in Arkansas, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin. In Alaska and Massachusetts possessing one ounce of marijuana was deemed legal. Various groups supported decriminalization and pushed for state reform. These groups included National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (commonly known as NORML), Americans for Safe Access, and Law Enforcement Against Prohibition. Advocates of the legalization of marijuana argued from the standpoint of freedom of choice, with supporters clamoring against unnecessary government interference. Promoting the therapeutic aspects of cannabis, some groups presented marijuana access as a human-rights issue and proposed that the drug be available for medical purposes. As more states decriminalized marijuana, and as proponents of decriminalization argued widely against prohibition, the argument for protecting “cherished values” began to weaken. “Charles Kelly’s Paraphrase...
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...As public attitudes towards drugs begin to change, and the failure that is prohibition slowly dies, the populace is demanding a better drug policy from the state. The status quo of developed nations’ drug policies is prohibition, which has had minimal success to date. It continues to unfairly punish those who choose to use narcotics, and only harming themselves. In 2008, the United Nations estimated that globally, approximately 200 million people took illicit drugs at least once in the past year. The use of illicit drugs has proven to be nearly impossible to control, and the state would be better off allocating its drug enforcement resources to other sectors, such as drug treatment. Portugal portrays an accurate depiction of the effectiveness of a decriminalized state focusing on harm reduction. The state’s drug policy should be a total legalization of all drugs, with an emphasis on harm reduction, public health, and strict regulations. Prohibition has caused more harm than good for minorities and developing nations. For over a century, prohibition was believed to be the only effective method of controlling drug usage; this is no longer the case. Thus, the main objectives of prohibition are pointless to begin with. The current prohibition laws have created vast economic disparities for millions of minorities. The skewed enforcement of drug laws on minorities allows for discretionary arrest, making victimization is all too easy. Tougher drug laws are the reason why 29% of black...
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...Why the Decriminalization and Legalization of Cannabis Would Improve Canadian Society Criminology 101 - Section 02 Nikaya Mirhadi-Pathon Capilano University Cannabis, the plant from which marijuana is derived, is the most widely used, produced and trafficked drug worldwide (Ducatti Flister, 2012). The decriminalization of marijuana has been a widely debated topic on a global scale as many advocate for it’s therapeutic purposes. In the city of Seattle, there are reportedly more medicinal marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks outlets. With the recent rise of dispensaries, two Washington University students are preparing to capitalize on this phenomenon by releasing an app for iPhones called Canary, billed as “Uber for marijuana” where an illegal delivery service can bring high-grade cannabis to your home within the hour (Altman, 2014). Governments world wide have invested copious amounts of money in fighting drug production and consumption, even though, the war on drugs has increased cannabis seizures, we see in countries like Canada, that regulated distribution of marijuana, has made it more readily available for both recreational and medicinal users (Ducatti Flister, 2012). Although, police within the Canadian jurisdiction are capable of pursuing criminal charges for cannabis possession for those who are distributing and consuming illegally, there is still a lack of consensus on the legal status of cannabis in Canada. Though the drug is illegal in Canada, with exceptions...
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...from the Los Angeles Times, it is estimated that 100 people die every day from drug abuse or overdose. Abuse or overdose being defined as taking more medicine than a doctor prescribes, or taking medication not prescribed to the victim. These totals don’t even include deaths related to side effects from other prescription drugs, and those reach over one hundred thousand people annually. These numbers have alarmed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but rightfully so because from the years 2000 to 2009 the report states, “The percentage of poisoning deaths among those aged 15–19 years with prescription drugs as a contributing cause increased from 30% in 2000 to 57% in 2009.” There are many different speculations that would drive such a rapid climb, such as music and lifestyle, accessibility to the drugs, and affordability for many teenagers. Agencies like the CDC and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), are working together with the White House to reside this issue by improving education of healthcare professionals, using state prescription monitoring programs, and proper disposal of controlled substances by business trade and the public. I agree with Obama in that there are steps that need to be taken to help end this recent issue in society. Although, I believe there are other ways to go about it and the first is to federally decriminalize marijuana. Prescription drug abuse has been recognized since the 1980’s, but it hasn’t received as much attention...
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...Decriminalization and Legalization of Drugs in Canada The Decriminalization and/ or legalization of drugs is a highly contentious issue regarding political, legal, economic, and social implications. It is also a highly contagious issue that the media cannot seem to cure its self of. Then again the public definitely cares about this issue intensely and so do many politicians whether they are users themselves or just simple supporters (of the tax revenues that legalizing certain narcotics will bring in to the country), especially in the United States and Canada where people are being thrown in jail for years only because of small possession charges (more so in the USA). Prisons in The United States are overcrowded with people who shouldn’t be...
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...a medical marijuana industry prove more beneficial to Jamaica? Would the decriminalization of marijuana in order for such an industry to be enacted be economically viable? Other questions to ask ourselves are, what is Decriminalization and how would decriminalization of marijuana help with enacting a medical marijuana industry? According to the Merriam-Webster decriminalization means “to remove or reduce the criminal classification or status of; especially: to repeal a strict ban on while keeping under some form of regulation”. Marijuana currently is a banned drug in Jamaica and for Jamaica to develop a medical marijuana industry which would therefore means large scale production of the drug for scientific research and medicine production. The drug would have to be legalized on a certain level to facilitate such. Note in the above definition for decriminalization it made mention of the drug being kept under some form of regulation which for this research basically means certain punitive usage of the drug would still be rendered as illegal. The scope of this research paper will cover areas such as, the economic state of the country and its ability to facilitate and withstand such an industry, the illicit use of the drug, implementations of stringent control measures and use of the substance, inabilities to export due to certain treaty and acts and the negative effects of the recreational use of the drug. With the poor state of the Jamaican economy and the heavy debt burden it...
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...responsible. A basic tenant of free trade is mutually beneficial exchange, a simple enough idea, but within the frame work of this “simple” idea lays a variety of taboo subjects that one might not initially expect to encounter. These subjects include but are not limited to ideas such as the decriminalization of narcotics, the legalization of prostitution, and even assisted suicide. I’ll exclusively explore the idea of voluntary exchange within drug markets, and analyze some of the social and economic costs and benefits to society. I’m going to present statistics and viewpoints that will evoke feelings...
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...Marijuana decriminalization and regulation can be a potential solution to marijuana addiction in America. Carl Hart is a neuropsychopharmacology and the the Chair of the Department of Psychology at Columbia University. He writes the book “High Price” which gives a new perspective on drug addiction and the failures of the American drug policies. “The real problem in such communities, especially those of color, was not the drugs(Hart 717). I disagree because drugs can have very addictive chemicals in them making it hard for people to stop taking them. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “Marijuana potency, as detected in confiscated samples, has steadily increased over the past few decades. In the early 1990s, the average THC content in confiscated marijuana samples was roughly 3.7 percent. In 2014, it was 6.1 percent. Also, newly popular methods of smoking or eating THC-rich hash oil extracted from the marijuana plant (a practice called dabbing) may deliver very high levels of THC to the person. The average marijuana extract contains more than 50 percent THC, with some samples exceeding 80 percent. These trends raise concerns that the consequences of marijuana use could be worse than in the past”(...)....
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...Economics of Decriminalization or Legalization of Cannabis Introduction Capitalism: an economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods, by investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production, and distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a few markets. This unique system allows for a merchant to market just about any product to the masses dependent on a public opinion of the commodity, legality, availability, and profitability. Some commodities, although carrying high demand are regulated heavily and sometimes even ban from the market place for reasons pertaining to public safety. Others, however, showing to be a health hazard are still allowed to remain on the market. This definition is according to Merriam-Webster.com. This paper will focus on the economics of cannabis and how by its decriminalization, or legalization, it can be a profitable commodity in the marketplace by the following. Providing an overview of cannabis and how political games have caused an unearned negative public opinion on the commodity. Listing arguments that support the claim that by legalizing this commodity not only crime rates in general, but violent crime rates, will drop noticeably if not substantially providing a savings in the cost of enforcing and prosecuting such crimes. And, that by decriminalization, the federal government can regulate this commodity much like alcohol and tobacco providing new sources...
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...Decriminalization of Marijuana. Marijuana is a drug that comes in many forms and strains. The decriminalization of marijuana could have outstanding effects on our country. Decriminalization is to make something no longer a criminal act but was marijuana always illegal. The benefits of decriminalization are double to triple the negatives of decriminalization. Four groups of people would be hurt by this. You may be wondering can this be regulated by government. The answer may shock you but California already has it well regulated. I believe it best we decriminalize it when the time is right and some states are already seeing that the time is right. We can’t talk about why something needs to be decriminalized without first discussing why it was criminalized in the first...
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...violence, and public safety (par 1). Doherty is a law prosecution veteran and a criminal investigator (par 4). He is experienced in operating drug arrests and interviewing teens, adults, and juveniles indulged in marijuana (par 4). He is a 28-year-old adult; fearing decriminalization will encourage young people to smoke pot, which impairs their health. Therefore, he writes the article to make teachers, counselors, parents, and any person concerned about young adults of the country aware of the effects of decriminalization (par 2). Furthermore, he...
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...and charged with a DUI or DWI. Can you imagine the amount of money the government puts into criminalizing this drug? Our research consists of the economic effects of both the legalization as well as the criminalization of marijuana, specifically through government spending and budgets. Additionally, we will be explaining whether if there would be any sort of correlation between the prohibition of marijuana, government allocation on legalization,...
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...What are the benefits of decriminalizing any drug? “A drug is not bad. A drug is a chemical compound. The problem comes in when people who take drugs treat them like a license to behave like an asshole,” – said Frank Zappa, the American composer and rock musician and I absolutely agree with him. The dawn of the twenty first century has ushered in a new age of optimism and wonder. Despite the proclamations of television, all is not in well in our part of the world. Our societies have waged a war on drugs, but this war is far from being won. Being fought against our own citizens and citizens abroad, an international effort to eradicate drug production and use has undoubtedly failed leaving in its wake social unrest and political chaos. Assault, property crime, homicidal tendencies, racial and economic marginalization, murder, corruption and many other undesirable things are burning through society fanned by the drug war's cold and inhuman policies. In addition to these problems there are the initial problems that drug users incur on themselves and society; the same ones the drug war was supposed to eliminate. Prohibition is an old idea that is not practically attainable in a democratic society that values individual rights. – short generalization+quotation For one, experiments with the prohibition of alcohol failed miserably and cost many people their lives. If the justification behind the drug war is human health and wellbeing, as governments would have us believe, then refraining...
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