Overcrowded Prisons and the War on Drugs - 1178 Words

The War on Drugs 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. The war on drugs started over 100 years ago in San Francisco, California when the first law against drugs was enacted to stop the smoking of opium. In all actuality, this law was against the Chinese people living in the U.S., because they were known for smoking of the opium as a custom. The government feared that opium induced Chinese men would try to lure white women to them. The next drug that was considered illegal was cocaine.†¦show more content†¦In fact, while the sale of Nicotine requires your age to be 18 and above, there is no age on acquiring or purchasing Caffeine. Statistics also show that while Nicotine kills over 390,000 individuals a year, Marijuana kills 0. (Scha ffer, n.d.) Proposal 2 Strike down the 3 Strike Rule: The 3 strike rule is a great rule when it comes to violent offenders that just do not learn the first or second time around, but to use this rule for petty thefts and drug offenses is not only overcrowding our prisons, but not teaching the offenders anything. Not only is the 3 Strikes Rule ineffective, it becomes even more so when you consider that most of the drug offenses in this country are for recreational drugs such as marijuana. According to a drug fact sheet from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, there have been 10 million people arrested since 1965 for the use of marijuana. The fact sheet goes on to state that 80% of all prisoners in America are doing time for drug related offenses. By doingShow MoreRelatedPrison Overcrowding in California905 Words   |  4 PagesPrison Overcrowding in California Jeffrey Shaw CJA/564 Josette Ford May 6, 2013 The California prisons have been crowded for decades. This cannot continue to go on. One of the reasons that the prisons are overcrowded is because of the types and lengths of sentences. Other reasons why the prisons are overcrowded is because many of the prisoners are there on non-violent crimes. Also many of the sentences are for smaller crimes. The one recent event that is dealing with this problem is releaseRead MoreThe Effects of Overcrowded Conditions in US Prisons1564 Words   |  6 PagesDue to budget crises in states across the United States of America, state governments must cut funding to their punishment facilities causing overcrowding in prisons to increase every day. Overcrowded prisons pose a potential breeding ground for crime as hundreds of inmates are squeezed into small accommodations. Thousands of low-level offenders receive jail sentences each day, these criminals make up about a third of the inmates in the United States. In the words of Republican Governor M itch DanielsRead MoreEffects Of Overcrowded Prisons1218 Words   |  5 Pagesin the overgrown prisons throughout the country. Over 2.4 million people call a state prison, federal prison, or local jail their home ( Prison Overcrowding). Not only are citizens frightened about the over populated prisons, but also the prisoners who have to live there for a period of time. Overcrowded prisons produce an amount of stress and physical problems to the prisoner ( When Prison). Overcrowding restricts access to dining halls, laundry rooms, and bathrooms (When Prison). Also some inmatesRead MorePrison Overcrowding And Its Effects On The United States Essay1605 Words   |  7 PagesPer Derek Gilna’s report on Increase in Federal Prison Population, Overcrowding, prisons have become overpopulated throughout a five-year span from 2006 to 2011 (Gilna, page 48). Prison overcrowding has become a plague in the United States for some time now. The US Bureau of Justice Statistics shows more than two-million adults are incarcerated in US federal and state prisons. There are many reasons that prisons are becoming overpopul ated but not such a certain cause. To fix the problem, attentionRead MoreEssay about Crime in Latin America1197 Words   |  5 PagesPrisons for a long time have been a gateway to try to save society, when the only thing that it’s doing is hurting the social order because it’s creating more problems that are not being treated from the beginning. Crime has become a big problem during these hard times with the poor economy, but it has especially affected Latin America because of all the problems that overcrowded prisons have brought forward. In Latin America Brazil and Mexico are the two largest countries that have been affectedRead MorePros And Cons Of War On Drugs889 Words   |  4 PagesWar on Drugs Introduction In 1971, President Nixon created the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 commonly known as the War on Drugs. The war on drugs was implemented to combat production, distribution, and consumption of illegal drugs (Olaya Angel, 2017). In 2007, law enforcement officers made approximately two million drug arrests in the United States (Potter, 2014). Supporters state that the war on drugs was successful because it lowered some drug users in the UnitedRead MoreOvercrowding And Its Effects On The United States Prison System1178 Words   |  5 Pages Overcrowding prisons are an issue that has been influencing the United States prison population for decades, however what is the true significance of overcrowding. As indicated by Jeff Bleich (1989) â€Å"the term overcrowding is repetitive, since crowding already refers to a higher level of social density than is desired†. An overcrowded prison is a shocking condition that causes outrage and dissatisfaction among detainees (Haney, 2014). This condition is so undesirable that one can consider it as unconstitutionalRead MorePrison Overcrowding Crisis1317 Words   |  6 Pagesdetained or before a trial. A prison is built to house individuals for a long period of time. A jail is also known as a detention facility. A prison is known as a correctional facility or penitentiaries. Regardless of their name, the functions stay the same: to incarcerate and condemn criminals. America the land of the free has the highest incarceration rate. Furthermore, prisons are overcrowded due to th e â€Å"war on drugs† and the â€Å"three-strike† law. Individuals are sent to prison for nonviolent crimes.Read MoreEssay about Negative Consequences of Mandatory Sentencing747 Words   |  3 Pagesunfortunate consequences. Some of these consequences are overcrowding in prisons and less prison based rehabilitation. Mandatory sentencing laws do not narrowly target major drug traffickers. Today there are 100 separate federal mandatory minimums located in 60 different criminal statues. An example of mandatory sentencing is New Yorks Rockefeller laws which order terms extending from 15 years to life for nonviolent drug offenses. Five years ago in California the three strikes law was passedRead MoreThe War on Drugs1580 Words   |  7 PagesThe war on drugs began in the United States in 1971 when President Richard Nixon declared war. President Nixon increased the number of federal drug control agencies, increased mandatory sentences for drug offenders, and utilized no-knock warrants in attempt to get the problem under control. It has been over forty years since President Nixon declared a war on drugs. Did America win the war on drugs? Is it time to legalize illicit drugs in this country? What are other countries doing in reference