Topic:
Mass Incarceration of nations
Please read and summarize Reading # 15 The Mass Incarceration of Nation and the Global War on Drugs: Comparing U. S. Domestic and Foreign Drug Policies from the book Otu, N. (2020) Criminal Justice Policy Issues (Preliminary Ed.) San Deigo, Cognella. ISBN 9781516597796
Know why and the impact of drug war on correction system.
Understand why national securiety agencies must work in partnership with other public and private agencies in preventing drug trafficking.
read the entire chapter and summarize it. You may use journals and newspaper articles on issues pertaining to this week’s reading to have more facts/points.
Identify and discuss major points/issues in the article that you have read. Students are required to: (1) give complete references for each article cited and (2) use examples from your class text/reading.
Please cite the reading and other sources Help write my thesis – APA style. Make sure to correctly cite the Reading from Otu, N. (2020) Criminal Justice Policy Issues (Preliminary Ed.) book. Cite the author of the article and not the editor of the book
War on drugs was and still is a campaign that was adopted by the government to prohibit illegal trading of illegal drugs. The government is aided by a foreign military and some countries participating. Mass incarceration is sending a large number of people into prisons for felony and even minor offenses. It serves as a way of punishment and rehabilitation. The war on drugs was called in 1971 by president Richard Nixon. A tough-on-crime policy agenda was introduced which has been producing disastrous results up to date. The government has used around 1 trillion USD since then in war on drugs.
Every year, more people get arrested for offenses related to drugs. This includes adolescents (Nancy.cao., n.d.). The criminal justice system’s main focus is on drug crimes more than any other type of crime. Most of the taxpayer’s money is used up in prosecuting and jailing drug-related offenders. Implementing a policy is not usually expensive and neither is it free. Legislations enforced should not be evaluated by the cost or the sincerity in which they are implemented but how successful they are. The legislation on drug war implemented by president Nixon was based on the aim to improve society by reducing the harm caused by drugs.
Success on these drug policies should be measured by positive changes seen on the welfare of people as well as improvement of their health conditions and not by the number of arrests made and seizures nor the harshness offenders receive during punishments. The survey shows that the war on drugs has not been successful. The main tool used in fighting drugs is dependence on incarceration (Patten, D. 2016). Incarceration is used as a means to reduce recidivism, as rehabilitation and also acts as a deterrent. This tool is proven to be ineffective. It has failed to reduce recidivism, it does not offer meaningful rehabilitation and doesn’t deter future offenders.
Reports of the Global Commission On Drug Policy state that the detection risk, the legal status and prevention messages from the government have failed to encourage the use of drugs (Allen, R. 2009). Mostly Peer influence, fashion influence and economic and social influences have largely affected the use of drugs. The growth of incarcerated offenders has rapidly increased over time. The failure of deterring these drug offenders has led to financial straining on the corrections system. Incarcerating non-violent drug offenders has proven to be expensive and impacts negative consequences on the offenders.
The family of the drug offender is also affected. This is because when providing a unit of imprisonment to the offender, their social and financial stability is compromised. When a member of a family is incarcerated, more so a parent, children tend to repeat the same mistake and end up being incarcerated as well. Offenders face health issues such as AIDS while in prison. The effects of this disease and many others which are communicable are then translated in the homes and society in which the prisoner returns to once he/she is released.
Drug traffickers have continued to secure big profits by expanding their base of customers. The availability of synthetic drugs in the US like opioids creates space for drug usage and trafficking. They also purchase drugs easily though the dark web which is much cheaper and conceals identity by use of cryptocurrencies. Trafficking of these drugs is then done through express consignment shipment or internal mail. So many countries are involved in shipping in drugs into the US. These countries are such as Mexico which is well known for crack cocaine. This is why the US government needs these countries in aiding in the war on drugs.
The US domestic and foreign drug policies on the war on drugs have very similar characteristics (Patten, D. 2016). Incarceration is done everywhere to awaken the global war on drugs. The country like Colombia has been incarcerated by the US government for drug trafficking just like the US citizens have been incarcerated for drug charges. The US uses fumigation in Colombia where toxic chemicals are dispersed through aerial means over a plantation containing drug plants. These plants are such as cannabis and coca.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration is consistent with cooperation and coordination with the local, state, federal and foreign government in reducing the availability of illicit drugs in the US market. This is done through methods that don’t require enforcement such as crop substitution, crop eradication and offering training to foreign officials. The US foreign policy strategy is dominated by military defense. Both the US domestic and foreign drug policies use the military to search and seize the drug traffickers. The US has used the term “narcoterrorism” to justify the involvement of the military.
Generally, the war on drug policies in the US has been in existence for a long time. The federal, state and local governments have been in action to fight the drug issue. It has been a major concern since the number of drug users has been increasing over time. The most used strategy to fight drugs is the mass incarceration of drug-related offenders. It has not been very effective since the highest population in jail are people arrested from drug offenses. The domestic and foreign policies of the war on drugs have both focused on mass incarceration of individuals and nations at large such as Colombia. The US military is used in fighting the war on drugs in foreign nations. Fumigation is a foreign policy strategy used to fight drugs.
References
Nancy.cao. (n.d.). Drug Prevention Treatment and Care [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drug-prevention-and-treatment/index.html
Patten, D. (2016). The mass incarceration of nations and the global war on drugs: Comparing the united states’ domestic and foreign drug policies. Social Justice, 85-105.
Bewley-Taylor, D., Hallam, C., & Allen, R. (2009). The incarceration of drug offenders: an overview.
