Preview

Drugs in the Prison System

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1335 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Drugs in the Prison System
Drugs and prison

How Can Illegal Drugs Be Prevented From Entering Prison? The American prison system has many different interpretations. Some people think it is a place for rehabilitation. Others may feel it is solely a punishment for making bad decisions, and there are those who see it as a method of revenge. Regardless of how the prison system is viewed, one element that may be a shock to everyone is the use of illegal drugs by the inmates. There are also a surprising number of unpublicized deaths among the inmate population due to drug overdoses that could have been prevented. The public deserves answers to many question such as: How are illegal drugs infiltrating the prisons? How are inmates creating their own substances? What is being done to prevent drugs from coming in to prisons? Answering these questions will provide a bigger picture of the ongoing and growing problem of substance abuse within the prison system, and the knowledge to discuss potential solutions. Although inmates are housed in prisons for crimes against society, it is law enforcement’s responsibility to ensure their safety and that the illegal temptations of the outside world do not breach the prison walls. How Are Illegal Drugs Infiltrating the Prisons? Prisons are designed primarily to keep people inside, and less focus is placed on what is coming in. Regardless of the emphasis, the expectation of a facility that has full control over the population should be a drug free environment. However, drugs and other illegal contraband find their way inside undetected. There are many ways illegal drugs are introduced into the prison population. The article I read about on good "How Common Are Drugs in Prison"? refers to friends or relatives of an inmate who bring in drugs as “mules”. Some visitors try to conceal the illegal drugs on their person, or even inside their bodies to escape detection. Other ways of hiding contraband is inside food and beverages as well as the mail system.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Most of the federal prisons in the Unites States are overcrowded, many are filled with drug users and suppliers. Stiffer penalties were put in place decades ago, which makes it mandatory the drug offenders go to prison. Judges and prosecutors can sentence according to an individual’s…

    • 153 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mumola, Christopher J. "Prisons & Drug Offenders." Welcome. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Nov. 2012. .…

    • 2509 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The United States prison system is not a suitable place for nonviolent drug offenders. The high rate of recidivism is caused by one thing and one thing only, prison sentences. Nonviolent drug offenders will have no choice other than to socialize with other inmates, some who have committed irreprehensible crimes, thereby greatly increasing their chance of becoming violent. The population of prisons in the United States is on a steady rise. One way to stop this is by reevaluating the three strikes law, because the proof that this law discourages repeat offenders is simply not there.…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Prison Withdrawals

    • 219 Words
    • 1 Page

    When drug abusers go to prison they are trapped in there with other users and/or people far worse than them. They are in there with serial killers, rapists, and other inmates far worse than them; yet they have an addiction problem which is something that could be overcame with the help of rehab. Someone who is only addicted to a drug shouldn’t be locked away for it; they should be given proper therapy. Sitting in a prison cell isn’t going to help them. because they don’t have the drug with them, it could genuinely make it worse. Withdrawals are very painful and uncomfortable.Of course, nobody could possibly deserve to suffer through that type of pain. During and sometimes after withdrawals all the addicts can think about is getting high again.…

    • 219 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Drug Courts Recidivism

    • 160 Words
    • 1 Page

    Drug courts seek to halt the revolving door of addiction and crime by linking addicted offenders to drug treatment and rigorous judicial monitoring. They bring together judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, treatment providers, and court staff in a collaborative effort to address the offender’s underlying substance use disorder and enforce compliance with court orders. Drug courts also use a system of graduated incentives and sanctions to help substance abusers achieve and maintain a drug-free life. Today, thanks to well-established evidence that drug courts reduce substance abuse and recidivism—including a groundbreaking study by researchers from the Center for Court Innovation—there are approximately 3,000 drug courts in the United States.…

    • 160 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The United States’ court system, jails, and prisons contain a significant number of offenders that have been convicted with drug related offenses, many of which are suffering from drug addictions. Drug abuse is becoming more prevalent, as drugs are becoming more and more readily accessible. Drug courts are a form of intervention used to treat drug-addicted offenders. Drug courts use the power and authority of a judge to keep a drug offender in treatment, providing rewards for successes and sanctions for failures. This form of intervention is used in order to reduce drug use, reduce crime, save money and restore lives.…

    • 101 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The increased use of for-profit privatized prisons in the United States has created a system of mass incarceration due to compromised motivation for these institutions to maximize profits. Over the last four and a half decades, the United States has experienced a surge in the incarceration rates. In 2013, 1,598,780 people occupied state or federal prisons compared to 196,429 in 1970 (“Incarceration Generation” 1). This rise in prison population may be a result of harsher penalties and legislation on non-violent crimes. For instance, President Nixon officially declared the “War on Drugs” in 1973 and endorsed this through the creation of the Drug Enforcement Administration's (“Incarceration Generation” 1). The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, passed…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    One must wonder if the "war on drugs" helps or hinders our American Criminal Justice System when you look at the overwhelming impact it has had on crowding issues within our prisons. At the present time there are over 1.5 million people in prison, 59.6 % for drug offenses alone.…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Increased penalties and incarceration are the main solutions of crime prevention for advocates who believe that drugs should be prohibited. Two main reasons for this are its deterrent effects and social harm factors (Levitt, 1996, Weatherburn, 2014). Levitt (1996), at the height of rapidly increasing speeds of incarceration writes that increased prison population is a threat to deter people from engaging in criminal acts due to an increased threat of imprisonment. Also, incapacitation will be a benefit to society as criminals are unable to commit crimes while incarcerated (1996). His study argues that for each prisoner released as a result of prison overcrowding, it is associated with an increase of fifteen crimes per year (1996). Conversely,…

    • 336 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    More than half of prisoners are currently serving time for non-violent drug related offenses, as the popularity for “war on drugs” has increased over the last decade. The majority of inmates are harshly sentenced, including doubling of imprisonment time for repeat offenders. For example, the federal law issues that selling 28 grams of crack cocaine requires a sentence of at least five years. Because even more convicts are being sent to prison, overcrowding has forced institutions to release prisoners early to meet budget requriements. Most of these inmates become homeless and are diagnosed with many medical problems, often getting little to no help. Being that this subject is an issue currently in society, I also had to cope with consequences…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Juvenile Drug Courts

    • 1910 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Drug courts came about as a result of the 1980's "war on drugs" where all levels of government came together to crack down on an epidemic of crack-cocaine use that had society believing that drugs were the main problem of the criminal justice system. Courts on state and federal levels were burdened and overloaded with drug cases. As a result, prison populations began to rise at an amazing rate. According to statistics, "the number of adults arrested for drug-related violations increased 27.3% between 1980 and 1995, in the same period, the percentage of prisoners in the custody of state correctional authorities for drug offenses increased from 6.4% to 22.7%". With this rate of increase in drug offenses going through the courts system, something had to be done to manage the large number of cases that were drug-related.…

    • 1910 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The War on Drugs era has resulted in a huge growth in incarceration for drug offenses. In 1980, about 40,900 people were put in jail for drug offenses and today that number has grown to about…

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Addiction In Prisons

    • 145 Words
    • 1 Page

    More than one third of prison inmates suffer with some form of mental illness and more than half will, also, have a history of drug addiction. More often, inmates that are coping with both a mental illness, as well as, an addiction disorder, generally will have more problems as they begin to reenter society. It has been said that, 37 percent of inmates who are released from a state prison are re-institutionalized within the first three years of their release; this is compared it the 30 percent, who do not suffer a mental illness. According to the Department of Correction analysis of 2012, states that, inmates that are battling addiction are fare worst. When looking at the inmate population with an dual diagnosis, around one half have been…

    • 145 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1973 approximately 300,000 people were incarcerated today more than 2.3 million are imprisoned. The vast majority of that huge increase of imprisonment is due to the War on Drug. About 2/3 of the increase in the federal prison population is due to drug offenses. For state prisons 50% of the increase is due to drug offenses. Most of the war on drugs has been waged in poor African-American communities. Although studies show that people of all colors use and sell illegal drugs at about the same rate African-Americans have been explicitly targeted and arrested. Some studies even suggest that white youth are significantly more likely to deal in illegal drugs. This is supported by the fact that White youth have about 3 times more drug-related visits to the emergency…

    • 1061 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    University of Phoenix Criminal Justice Administration CJA 453 Juan Campos February 5, 2009War on Drugs and Prison Overcrowding Prison overcrowding is a major problem1in our criminal justice system and it continues to bea hotly debated topic as to how we should address the problem. One of the main reasons our prison systems have a problem with overcrowding is drugs. More specifically, the "war on drugs" started by President Reagan in 1982 brought a dramatic increase1to the number of people put behind barsfor drug offenses.…

    • 709 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays