Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1988
Jered Croom
SOWK 534 Midterm
Prof. Reina
October 6, 2012
A. The United States has declared war on drugs. This is a war that has been fought on many levels and in many places. The Whitehouse released statistics that state, “anywhere from 52 percent (Washington, DC) to 80 percent or more (Chicago and Sacramento) of male arrestees tested positive for the presence of at least one drug at the time of their arrest” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/criminal-justice-reform). This information gives some insight into the pervasiveness of the presenting problem. Drug addiction is an epidemic among those being arrested. Incarceration has been the “big stick” of numerous administrations when it comes to fighting the drug war. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 enacted new federal laws governing how we deal with drugs in the country. These guidelines were the logical extension of other popular draconian measures from several states to include New York. Among the elements of the Act is mandatory sentencing. This tool has made the prosecution of non violent drug offenders the “third rail” of our modern society. There are few politicians that want to be seen as going easy on crime, but this hyper incarceration in America has led us to lead the world in incarcerated individuals. This antiquated idea of how the law looks at addiction and the people who experience it has led to an untenable situation in our country. Traditionally there has always been a punitive approach to treatment of addiction. Morality laws were pervasive in early America. The three strike laws have served to “feed the beast” in regards to filling prisons on the state and federal level. The prison population in this country has exploded. According to the Department of Justice in 2010 there were over 1.6 million people incarcerated in the U.S. (http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=11). In this exploration we will look at how the phenomenon of
SOWK 534 Midterm
Prof. Reina
October 6, 2012
A. The United States has declared war on drugs. This is a war that has been fought on many levels and in many places. The Whitehouse released statistics that state, “anywhere from 52 percent (Washington, DC) to 80 percent or more (Chicago and Sacramento) of male arrestees tested positive for the presence of at least one drug at the time of their arrest” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/criminal-justice-reform). This information gives some insight into the pervasiveness of the presenting problem. Drug addiction is an epidemic among those being arrested. Incarceration has been the “big stick” of numerous administrations when it comes to fighting the drug war. The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 enacted new federal laws governing how we deal with drugs in the country. These guidelines were the logical extension of other popular draconian measures from several states to include New York. Among the elements of the Act is mandatory sentencing. This tool has made the prosecution of non violent drug offenders the “third rail” of our modern society. There are few politicians that want to be seen as going easy on crime, but this hyper incarceration in America has led us to lead the world in incarcerated individuals. This antiquated idea of how the law looks at addiction and the people who experience it has led to an untenable situation in our country. Traditionally there has always been a punitive approach to treatment of addiction. Morality laws were pervasive in early America. The three strike laws have served to “feed the beast” in regards to filling prisons on the state and federal level. The prison population in this country has exploded. According to the Department of Justice in 2010 there were over 1.6 million people incarcerated in the U.S. (http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=11). In this exploration we will look at how the phenomenon of
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