Drug Arrests
An escalating number of states in the United States have legalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. Additionally, prescription drugs that ease pain have been legalized and issued by physicians. However, hardcore drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and opioids remain illegal in US states. As per federal law, police are mandated to make arrests if they find an individual possessing these drugs illegally. In 2018, police officers made about 664,000 arrests for marijuana-related arrests in fifty us states, including the District of Columbia. This accounts for approximately 40 percent of the total arrests made in the US in the year in question. Additionally, the second largest category of other drug arrests accounted for approximately 30 percent, followed by heroin, cocaine, and synthetic drugs, accounting for 25 percent and 6 percent, respectively (Gramlich). These figures encompass arrests for possession, selling, and manufacturing of each kind of drug.
The core mandate of the Criminal justice system is to serve justice to offenders while protecting the public. The US has enacted three principal statutes that aim to control drug use include The Misuse of Drugs Act (1971), The Medicines Act (1968), and the Psychoactive Substances Act (2016). The Misuse of Drugs Act (MIDA) aims at prohibiting non-medical usage of drugs in the US. To effectively implement this law, the law enforcement agency has the authority to cease arrest and search individuals on the reasonable notion that they have controlled drugs.
Furthermore, the Psychoactive Substances Act (2016) regulates the production, possession, and supply of psychoactive substances. In this context, the maximum sentence of offenders is seven years. The Medicines Act 1968 governs the supply and manufacture of medicine. It also requires a pharmacist to obtain a dealer’s license for accountability purposes. Bonta(5), criminal punishment can be categorized into five main components: incapacitation, deterrence, retribution, rehabilitation, and restoration.
Additionally, Incapacitation aims at preventing the occurrence of future crime by moving criminals away from the community. The punishment can be informed of house arrest, the death penalty, life imprisonment, and incarceration. Deterrence seeks to convince citizens and re-offenders or possible offenders to strictly adhere to the rule of law (Pereboom 63). However, this form of punishment’s effectiveness is hard to assess since individuals may follow the law for other reasons such as moral beliefs, lack of opportunity, or incapacitation. Moreover, Retributions represent one of the oldest forms of punishment. Pereboom (64) highlights that retribution prevents crime by assuring the victims and the society that the defendant has been punished accordingly, thus creating a narrative that the criminal justice system effectively functions.
The justice system entails imprisonment; therefore, correctional policy’s effect should cascade down to the reduction of drug crime both at national and international levels. According to Hipwell (1260), Correctional policies play a vital role in assisting the ex-convicts in integrating with society. Besides, these policies assist drug addicts in recovering through enrollment in rehabilitation programs. While these policies deter individuals from committing crimes, they also offer a guideline for determining the form of punishment when one commits a drug crime.
Theories of arrests
Hipwell (1260) highlights that the Correctional system, including arrests, is grounded in existential theories of shared responsibilities and freedoms within a framework characterized by social solidarity. Additionally, theories and research highlight that punishment is the functional approach to preserving solidarity and freedom. The main theories used in the criminal justice system include retribution theories, deterrence theories, rehabilitation theories, remediation theories, and self-defense theories, all of which form the basis of correctional policies. The theories are either divided into utilitarian and retributive theories.
Also, Retribution theories assert that the offender should be punished proportionally to the crime committed (Schuck 100). Additionally, it seeks to punish offenders citing that they deserve to be punished. According to the retributivist school of thought, individuals have free will thus capable of devising rational decisions. In this context, the offender who is incompetent or insane should not be punished. However, individuals capable of making conscious choices to distort society’s normal functioning should be punished accordingly.
Further, the Utilitarian theory aims at maximizing the happiness of the community (Schuck 97). For this reason, they are consequential and advocate for punishment for both the society and the offender. It asserts that the benefits produced should surpass the total evil. Utilitarians comprehend that a crime-free society is fictitious; therefore, they are committed to causing punishment as it is required to deter future crimes.
Rehabilitation theories emphasize the offenders’ remediation, but this objective poses a threat during the correctional system implementation. The rehabilitative goal’s emphasis is deterrence and empirical assessment of deterrence capabilities (Auty, Katherine & Alison 360). However, institutionalization’s demonstrated effect shows that the rehabilitative goal cannot be met in an institutional setting. It’s certain that the severity of the punishment is vital in deterrence, but deterrence and rehabilitative goals should be compatible for initiate a change of behavior among inmates. In light of this argument, rehabilitative community-based and treatment-oriented correctional facilities effectively control crimes (Jashnani et al., 270).
On the whole, simply because a particular state has decriminalized or legalized the use of a drug, for example, marijuana, does not imply that inhabitants are immune to police arrest for possession of it. Among many other things, individuals residing in states that have legalized the use of a particular drug encounter arrest for possessing more than the amount stipulated by the law. Decriminalization of marijuana in US states does not make it legal federally. For this reason, arrests are executed by law enforcement entities such as drug enforcement administration for drugs-related offenses too.
According to xxx, more than half of the state and federal prisoners abuse or addicted to drugs. The criminal justice system plays a functional role in transforming the lives of those incarcerated either because of possession of drug abuse .for those arrested for drug-related problems such as drug abuse, addiction, or possession, rehabilitation programs are initiated when they get in the prison. For individuals arrested on drug-related crimes, the criminal justice system assists these offenders in getting through the treatment programs, including diverting non-violent offenders to treatment, requiring treatment as a prerequisite for probation and pre-trial release, and convening specialized court desks to handle drug-related cases.
Conclusion
Drug abuse remains a menace in society, and policymakers are tasked with ensuring that illicit drugs don’t find their way into the people’s hands. Be that addicted inmates should be given recovery support through rehabilitation to minimize drug intake as it may. While crime is a product of social interactions, the US government should come up with policies to suppress social problems such as unemployment, low levels of education, and poverty to reduce delinquency rates. Criminology theories play an essential role in preserving social solidarity and freedom by punishing individuals committing crimes. Therefore criminal justice officials should ensure that a balance is struck between societal needs and individual needs. This will play a critical role in instituting appropriate prevention programs for controlling drug-related crimes. A criminal justice system remains a vital part of society. Therefore, courts, law enforcement agencies, and correctional facilities should team up to reduce society’s crimes. A criminal justice system remains a vital part of society. Therefore, courts, law enforcement agencies, and correctional facilities should team up to reduce drug-related crimes in society.