Preview

An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System - Illicit Drugs and Young Offenders

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1665 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System - Illicit Drugs and Young Offenders
2.0 Executive Summary
In this report, the contemporary legal issue of illicit drugs and young offenders has been discussed and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the criminal justice system when dealing with this issue has been conducted. The issue of illicit drugs and why the consumption of these drugs is dangerous to Australian youth is explored and the Australian law that deals with psychoactive drugs and young offenders is also stated. The evaluation of the effectiveness of the criminal justice system when dealing with young offenders will be conducted by discussing by discussing it in regards to accessibility, equality, protection of rights, resource efficiency and enforceability. It is concluded that the criminal justice system is not effectively dealing with young offenders in relation to illicit drug crimes. 3.0 Australian Youth and Illicit Drugs
Drugs are substances that change a person’s physical or mental state. This definition can be split into substances that are legally prescribed by medical professionals and substances that are illegally used to affect the mind (referred to as illicit or recreational drugs) (National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre Australia, 2011). The prohibition of psychoactive drugs has caused the production and consumption of such drugs to be driven underground and has fostered the development of a criminal industry that is corrupting civil society and governments. This multi-million dollar industry is not regulated by the government, allowing for the drugs to be produced at any quality or quantity and allowing young Australians to have easy access to illicit drugs.
This is an issue because young people who are caught with these drugs can be charged criminal and this ultimately leads to their futures become much more difficult due to the legal implications of the matter (Australia21, July 2012). Abuse of such substances also has a very negative effect to a person’s health, especially to young people as they are in
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Australian Drug Courts Literature Review
    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Australian Drug Courts Literature Review

    Kornhauser, R. 2016. “The effectiveness of Australia’s drug courts”. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology. doi: 10.1177/0004865816673412…

    • 258 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Go Ask Alice Addiction
    • 1882 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Go Ask Alice Addiction

    Growing up and entering the teenage years exposes young people to new things that they have never had to deal with before, such as drugs. Many children do not know how to handle a situation when faced with drugs, which opens the possibility of bad decision making. Just one bad decision can lead to a lifetime of addiction and struggling. The use of dangerous drugs is a growing issue amongst teens in real life while also depicted in modern works of literature such as Crank and Go Ask Alice.…

    • 1882 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Causes Of Incarceration In Australia
    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Causes Of Incarceration In Australia

    In Australia, during 2010 there was approximately 38 young people incarcerated per 100,000, and this is why many believe the incarceration of youth to be one of the biggest issues in Australia. While these figures have dropped dramatically since 1981, many believe it can be lowered further. South Australia’s youth are prosecuted in accordance to the Young Offenders Act of 1993, which applies to youth between the ages of 10-17. This act aims to maintain social cohesion and progress, and it attempts to do this by assisting young people at risk from becoming involved in criminal activity, and to prevent reoffending through the provision of appropriate services and programs. Many members of the public believe, that the incarceration of the youth is not only ineffective and unnecessary, but also damaging the youth and causing recidivism, and instead we should follow…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Effectiveness of criminal justice system in dealing with Young Offenders (Australia)
    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Effectiveness of criminal justice system in dealing with Young Offenders (Australia)

    Evaluate the effectiveness of the criminal justice system in dealing with young offenders with respect to two issues studied in this chapter.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Youth Criminal Justice Act
    • 2954 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Youth Criminal Justice Act

    The Youth Criminal Justice Act is a federal legislation that deals with deviance among youth. This policy is the third legislation to come into existence that separate criminal laws and courts for youth and adults. The purpose of this policy is to protect the public, issue purposeful consequences to the offenders, meet the needs of the victims, and distinguish between youth and adult justice. The Youth Criminal Justice Act is still fairly new, as a result its success still has yet to be precisely determined.…

    • 2954 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    How Drugs Affect the Health Triangle
    • 2093 Words
    • 60 Pages

    How Drugs Affect the Health Triangle

    Illegal drugs were first used way before the history was recorded. On that time, they were used to cure diseases and were legal. However, as time passes by, doctors had discovered that these drugs could do more harm than good. Although some of the drugs were considered useful, their side effects may be costly and not worth the risk. As a child, most of the people were taught that using and taking illegal drugs could harm the body. Yet, according to 2010 National Survey on Drug use and Health, more than 22 million Americans age 12 and older—nearly 9% of the United States population—use illegal drugs (Cooper). And more than 20% of young people in the United States have experimented with inhalants at least once by the time they enter 8th grade (Cavendish 497). Furthermore, in 2010, there were 80,000 drug overdose deaths in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s WONDER database (“Which Drugs Actually Kill Americans”). With ignorance, many drug users suffer badly from their own actions, due to the fact that drugs have many lasting effects on the person’s physical, emotional, and social well-being. As a connotation that comes with drugs, they often jeopardize our bodily functions, depreciates the well-being of our physical health. Drugs could corrupt all parts and organs of the body—mainly the heart, brain, lungs, and kidney. Even worse, it could impair the nervous system and could even lead to seizures and paralysis. Although many people are aware of this destructive behavior of drugs, they still take drugs. And as a result, many people’s lives were damaged. Drugs often target and alter neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers that allow nerves to communicate at their junctions. Repeatedly taking them could interfere the neurotransmitters in the brain, leading to addiction. For example, drugs like marijuana and heroin mimic natural neurotransmitters. This fools receptors and allows the drug to…

    • 2093 Words
    • 60 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Opioid Use In Modern Society
    • 201 Words
    • 1 Page

    Opioid Use In Modern Society

    Crack, booze, pot, meth- from bustling cities to the serene countryside, the atmosphere surrounding an adolescent is permeated with drugs. Substance abuse has been an ever-growing problem in modern society, considering the amount of users today in comparison to half a century ago. In the 1990s, prescription drug abuse witnessed its first skyrocket. The use of drugs such as Vicodin and Oxycontin, increased by a staggering 343% between 1990 and 2005. From then on, drugs would become increasingly popular and would be more commonly distributed. In modern society, opioid use has become a regularity for a multitude of people, including the disadvantaged, the wealthy and successful, the middle class, and has recently been directed towards young adolescents.…

    • 201 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Indigenous Youth Offenders
    • 1528 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Indigenous Youth Offenders

    The criminal justice system uses unique policies and programs to address the difficulties associated with dealing with young offenders. It is widely accepted by the international and Australian standards that children and young offenders should be subject to an alternate criminal justice system than adults, which identifies and recognizes their inexperience and irresponsibility. “Best interests of the child” (CROC article 3). In NSW, daily there are over 500 under 18s incarcerated in juvenile institutions. With 69% between age 15-17 and 94% of them are male. 10-16 year olds make up 10% of the population and 20% of the offender population. Indigenous youth offenders represent the largest group of juveniles in custody. This essay will assess…

    • 1528 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Juvenile Crime Statistics Paper
    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Juvenile Crime Statistics Paper

    Moving on to the increase in drug offences and simple assaults, arrests of juveniles accounted for 12% of all violent crimes cleared by arrest in 2001 specially, 5% of murders, 12% of forcible rapes, 14% of robberies, and 12% of aggravated assaults. The drug offences in juvenile arrests have increased. In 2001 the estimated arrests for drug violations were 202,500 this is one of the highest numbers in the estimates for 2001.…

    • 759 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Contraband in Prison
    • 3820 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Contraband in Prison

    Gravett, Steve. Drugs in Prison: A Practitioners Guide to Penal Policy and Practice in Her Majesty 's Prison Service. London: Continuum, 2000. Print.…

    • 3820 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Youth Criminal Justice System
    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Youth Criminal Justice System

    Within the context of Canadian criminal justice, the youth crime is relatively minor yet teeming with excitement and interest, lying at the center of public concern over society’s future adult citizens. In its history, three different forms of legislation have come to pass; the Juvenile Delinquents Act of 1908 remained in place for seventy-six years before being replaced with the Young Offender’s Act in 1984, which was then replaced with the Youth Criminal Justice Act in 2002 (Smandych, 2016: 5). Clearly, the issue of youth justice is not lost on ‘The Great White North.' In the textbook Youth at Risk and Youth Justice: A Canadian Overview, scholars address many factors surrounding youth crime and youth criminal justice, including the overrepresentation…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Juvenile Criminal Justice System
    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Juvenile Criminal Justice System

    Through the juvenile criminal justice system and adult criminal justice system, the United States incarcerate more of its youth than any other industrialized country in the world. There’s approximately 34,000 youth incarcerated in the United States. This is not including the 5,200 youth incarcerated in adult prison, since they are considered adults, and the almost 20,000 youth that the juvenile justice system holds in residential facilities away from home, since that is not technically jail or prison. 1.900 youth are incarcerated for drugs charges, mostly for possession. 13,900 youth are incarcerated for person charges including sexual assault, homicide, aggravated…

    • 1161 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Porter's Response To The Criminalization Of Drugs
    • 282 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Porter's Response To The Criminalization Of Drugs

    As Rolles so accurately points out, "the criminalisation of drugs has historically been presented as an emergency response to an imminent threat, rather than an evidence based health or social policy intervention". What the criminal justice system fails to take into account is that by enforcing punitive drug policies the issue at hand is merely subdued. This high level policy environment routinely ignores critical scientific engagement and is uniquely divorced from most public health and social policy norms, such as interventions using established indicators of health and wellbeing. Porter reminds us that the notion of 'drugs' as we understand it today is a relatively new invention, therefore classifying drugs as 'illegal' and punishing those…

    • 282 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Au Juvenile Justice Systems
    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Au Juvenile Justice Systems

    Several broad observations and trends in Australian juvenile justice can be identified at the national level. Over the last ten years, there has been a decrease in the number of cases heard in Australian children’s courts due to the increasing trend of diverting juveniles during the early stages of processing. Such diversionary measures typically include conferencing, drug and alcohol courts and programs, juvenile justice teams and special courts and programs for young people. The most common types of offences for which juveniles are adjudicated in children’s courts include burglary or theft, assault and dangerous or negligent driving. Of all juvenile defendants who appeared in Australian children’s courts during the 2006-07 financial year, ninety-two percent received a criminal conviction and eighty-two percent pleaded guilty. Ninety-two percent of convicted juvenile offenders received non-custodial penalties such as fines, good behaviour bonds or community supervision orders. ‘How effective is the juvenile justice system?’ is a very difficult question to answer and will vary from person to person as some will be looking at the reduction in the crime rate will others will look at victim satisfaction. In Australia the Juvenile system I believe is quite effective as each state have their own specific way in tackling young offenders , that are relevant specifically to that state. The AIC has monitored juveniles in detention in Australia since 1981. It has found that the number of juvenile detainees per 100,000 head of population dropped from 64.9 in 1981 to 37 in…

    • 321 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Abstinence vs. Harm Reduction
    • 1744 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Abstinence vs. Harm Reduction

    “Drug policy regarding the control of the traditional illicit substances (opiates, cocaine, cannabis) is currently moving through upbeat times in almost all Western countries. Prohibition on the basis of repressive law enforcement not only seems to fail on a large scale, but also to create vast additional costs, problems, and harm for drug consumers, who often find themselves in extreme social, economic, and health conditions” (Fischer 1995: 389).…

    • 1744 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics