Having reviewed a similar crime prevention initiative at Ohio State University, we found the cost of this system to be acceptable. Ohio State’s Bill Shkurti, senior vice president for business and finance, notes, “the program is worth its $38,000-a-year cost” (Bush, 2007). Considering that Ohio State has close to five times the enrollment of the Baylor University, the Zero Tolerance team found that the cost of this solution was well within the established limit (The Ohio State, 2007; Baylor University,…
Bibliography: Bewley-Taylor, Taylor, Chris Hallam, and Rob Allen, The Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme, "The Incarceration of Drug Offenders: an Overview," Accessed May 3, 2012, http://www.beckleyfoundation.org/pdf/BF_Report_16.pdf.…
I have been asked to explain the different types of crimes that relate to chemical addiction. When talking about crime, we must have an understanding what the word crime actually means. Crime is a harmful act that is committed to one or more individuals. To be classified as a crime, the act of doing something bad (actus reus) must be usually accompanied by the intention to do something bad (mens read), with certain exceptions (strict liability). For example, if you go to someone and beat him or her up, you intended to do physical harm, and therefore you have committed an assault.…
There is also a need in the manner in which law enforcement manages drugs and drug enforcement. This can be handled by making drugs a public health problem instead of a criminal one (Lozoff, n.d.). This can shift a majority of the drug problem onto other services and by decriminalizing drug use and possession individuals can get treatment instead of being locked up for a mental health and addiction problem. This would alleviate overbooked court rooms and prisons allowing for the truly violent and dangerous criminals to be placed in space that is taken up by less violent offenders (Lozoff, n.d.). In changing the way the system manages drugs and drug addicts the crimes associated with drug use can also be decreased or eliminated (Chandler, Fletcher, & Volkow,…
Substance abuse and dependency persist as a major health and social concern in America. Author Joseph A. Califano, a former secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare notes, “it is hard to find an American family or circle of friends that substance abuse has not touched directly (Califano, J. A., p. 1, 2008).” Califano further explains that although Americans are 4 percent of the world’s population, Americans consume 65 percent of the world’s illegal drugs. Furthermore, one in four Americans will have an alcohol or drug disorder at some point in his or her life. Most of these individuals have parents, children, siblings, friends, community and colleagues who will “undergo psychological and social harm" (Califano, J. A., p. 1, 2008.).” Authors…
In the 1970s and 1980s, America faced a severe drug epidemic. The rise of drug use led to an increase in crime. Incarceration rates nearly tripled due to drug related crimes. The need to address this growing problem led to the drug court movement and the creation of drug courts. Drug courts are special courts that treat offenders with a history of substance abuse addictions by providing supervised treatments and sanctions when needed. This paper will discuss the establishment and goals of drug courts. It will also discuss the success or failures of drug courts in California, Florida, and D.C.…
Most non-violent crimes, such as thefts and burglaries, are committed by drug addicts to pay for their drug habit. By eliminating the reason behind the crime, the need to commit the crime will be eliminated; in some cases drug-related crimes were reduced by 51% (Popper, 2002). Drug treatment gets to the root cause of the crime. Treatment not only benefits the addict, it also gives them the opportunity to learn life skills and how to cope without the use of drugs, which will in turn help them to avoid making the same poor choices. Drug treatment is more than just stopping the drug use; it helps change behaviors and attitudes toward drugs and life. Without this major component, there is a larger chance of failure.…
In 1989, the Eleventh Judicial Circuit of Miami-Dade County in Florida was the first in the nation to implement Drug Court, a diversion and treatment program for drug offenders which is overseen by the Court. “The Miami-Dade Drug Court sparked a national revolution that has forever changed our justice system. Ten years after the first Drug Court was founded, 492 Drug Courts existed. By December 31, 2010 2,633 Drug Courts were operating in every U.S. state and territory” (National Association of Drug Court Professionals, para 3). Drug Court has allowed participants an opportunity to become productive members of their communities. Although not all people agree that drug court is an effective countermeasure for incarceration, drug court offers more treatment options for a criminal offender, reducing the recidivism rates and saving taxpayers money.…
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.…
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.…
In June 2010, there were about 2,500 drug courts that are being operated in the United States of America. By 2012, the number of drug courts increased to 2,734 that are currently operated in the united states. Drug court programs usually take between six months to a year to be completed. It is believed that offender with unmanageable addictions tends to commit about 63 crimes a year. There are offenders of all ethnicities that participate in drug courts. It is estimated that 62% of the participants in drug courts are caucasian. It is also believed that African Americans make 21% of participants around the world. Drug Courts are very significant in the court system because they have a huge impact on the offender’s life in the long run. In this paper, I will focus on the goals,successes, and failures of the Maricopa County Drug court, Baltimore City Drug Court, and the King County Drug Diversion court…
People who are addicted to drugs/alcohol suffer consequences in many areas of their lives. They may be financial due to job loss, health consequences such as illnesses that are caused by the drug use or cost of treatment, they may incur legal expenses due to arrests stemming from the drug use, and they may have spent large amounts of money on obtaining their drug of choice. There are also emotional consequences that cannot be measured. The addiction may devastate a family and cause it to break up. The addiction may land the user in mental institutions due to severe depression or suicide attempts. The user may end up in jail as a result of their addiction. According to the Alcoholics Anonymous the consequences for someone addicted to alcohol will be jails, institutions and death. Given all of the things that have to be considered when trying to calculate the cost of drug addiction it is probably impossible to…
Drugs can cost you everything such as the trust and respect of loved ones, to some crime committing such as theft and breaking and entering. There are a lot of reasons why people turned to drugs today, some are ashamed of the pain and trying to bottled up from sexual and physical abuse, some doing it out of boredom and they are curious about drugs, and others do drugs because, of peer pressure. But most of all drugs can cost you your life.…
Following the start of Nixon’s drug war the incarceration rate has increased up to 700% in 2005, according to Pew researchers. "After a 700-percent increase in the US prison population between 1970 and 2005, you'd think the nation would finally have run out of lawbreakers to put behind bars," said the report by Pew's Public Safety Performance Project. But apparently we haven’t yet. In 2009 alone, 1.66 million Americans were arrested on drug charges, more than were arrested on assault or larceny charges. And 4 of 5 of those arrests were simply for possession.…
One notable study on the effectiveness of Drug Courts was conducted in the city of Baltimore (Drug Courts Are Effective, 2011). In this study, it was concluded that those who used drug courts did not spend as much time in prisons or jail as other offenders (Drug Courts Are Effective, 2011). It was also concluded that these individuals were more likely to have their sentences reduced, attended more therapy sessions, continued enrollment in treatment, and also committed fewer crimes (Drug Courts Are Effective,…