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Fourth Amendment

DRUGS AND THE PRISON SYSTEM


The highest prison population in the world can be found in the United States. The United States has a higher incarceration rate than that of the former Soviet Union or South Africa. There are more people in prison than there are in some of the smaller states. This has been an on going issue in this country for some time. The national prison population has risen nearly 500 percent since 1972. This is far greater than the 28% rise in the national population during this time. The scale of imprisonment has come a long way since the institution was first introduced. There have been many changes in the system, but we still see many factors which seem to influence the increase in the prison population. One important factor can be the introduction of harsher laws such as the "three-strikes you're out law." Judges have become less lenient for women offenders as well as juveniles. Our courts are seeing more and more youthful drug dealers and abusers. This only adds to the large population that already exists within our prisons. We can find that most drug crime occurs due to economical obstacles, minority discrimination and the break out of various illegal/legal drugs. About 67 percent of convicted drug offenders were involved in either the trafficking or the manufacturing of illegal drugs. Research has shown that there is a strong link between substance abuse and criminal behavior. Offenders with a substance abuse problem commit a high percentage of violent crimes. Drug addicts commit more crimes while they are under the influence, some four to six times more than while they are sober. Offenders with active drug abuse problems are likely to continue their criminal behavior throughout their lives. It is clear that there is no easy solution to this country's drug problem. Throughout this paper we will examine the statistics of drug offenders and crime, drug abusers in the prison population, and...

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