Pros And Cons Of Nonviolent Drug Offenders

Improved Essays
President Barack Obama states that "it just doesn 't make sense to require a nonviolent drug offender to serve 20 years, or in some cases, life, in prison.” After granting pardons to over 58 nonviolent criminal offenders, he came to this conclusion. Obama makes a very good point here, why are we sentencing nonviolent offenders greater lengths than murders or rapists? The truth, America is caught up in the war on drugs. This results in failure to solve the real, bigger issue at hand. Instead of neglecting these people, we must exercise our power to help them become active members of society again. We have numerous rehabilitation programs that the Government doesn 't recognize as legitimate resources. Instead of utilizing these programs, the …show more content…
Of course, non violent drug offenders still deserve to serve their time; however, how much is enough? The Bureau of Justice defines “nonviolent crimes as property, drug, and public order offenses which do not involve a threat of harm or an actual attack upon a victim.” These are people who have an opportunity to better themselves, and our economy. If they become working members of society, it’s beneficial for America as a whole. It’s completely unethical and illogical that nonviolent drug offenders serve the same sentences of those committing violent and severe crimes due to the cost, defiance of alternatives, and irrational ideology. Due to the cost alone, we must reassess our harsh policy on nonviolent drug charges. America is roughly $19 Trillion in debt; however, we still spend ludicrous amounts on our prison system. These are the people that will attribute to our economy, once healthy. They …show more content…
Society fails to realize that addicts need help in order to become themselves again. Addiction is an illness, and while the inmate chose that road, America has the power to help them off it. Hoping they will become clean in the prison system isn’t solving the problem. It is almost if we are just wiping our problems under a rug, hoping they will fix themselves. Putting addicts in the prison system, without proper treatment, creates a surefire way to have them end up back in prison. I know firsthand, living with an addict guides my argument. Learning my once loving, caring mother was an addict crushed me. I actually wished she had gone to jail; however, she found rehab. Seeing my once alcoholic mother, back to her caring loving self shows me how powerful rehab can be. It truly works. Finding rehab helped her, which uplifted me and my family. So, multiple people may benefit from rehab; the user, as well as families will find peace. This creates a domino effect, leading to an increase of happiness within our society. Courses such as “HOPE programs, function like 24/7 programs for methamphetamine users. Participants are called each day and asked to come in for a drug test on random days. Failure to show up or a failed tests result in short jail stays” (Hult). This is where America must put the focus. Our efforts must be on helping these people, not neglecting them. It is America 's

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Incarceration of such offenders has also not been found to sufficiently concentrate on the treatment needs faced by these particular individuals. The criminal justice system has in time, advanced its’ efforts to assist non-violent offenders through alternatives to incarceration. By shifting the focus from incarcerating substance abusers to one of treatment, an effort to promote positive change and reduce recidivism could be accomplished (Journal of Experimental Criminology). With that being said, should drug…

    • 1666 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    War On Drugs Essay

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Law enforcement places significant emphasis on catching drug dealers, but the prosecution of those who simply abuse does not help with the addiction problem. This means even though they are being punished for using drugs, they will go back to using simply because their mindset figures that the risk of punishment is worth the high. Although law enforcement punishes those who are in possession of drugs with the intent to distribute these drugs, punishing the addict does not accomplish much in the form of help. If users aren’t receiving help for their addiction problem, the drug problem will always be…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In recent years, as, largely because of the heroin epidemic, attitudes towards drug use have shifted, America has stepped towards taking a “public health” approach to ending drug use. If the government continues to address drug use and abuse as the public health crisis it is, the issue of mass incarceration can be effectively tackled. The “War on Drugs” has primarily been responsible for the dramatic increase in the number of Americans under the control of the criminal justice system, with one in every 31 adults in prison or under parole or probation today. Effectively, national drug policy has encouraged police officers and prosecutors alike to go after low level drug offenders and has done very little to curb addiction and stop drug use (73). Consequently, any attempt to decrease America’s prison population and fight mass incarceration will have to drastically change the way in which substance abuse is addressed by the government.…

    • 1107 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    As many of you already know the United States has the highest percentage of its population behind bars compared to any other country. This may be related to the fact that a majority of petty crimes require mandatory sentencing. Politicians such as District Attorney Dan Conley believe that mandatory sentencing is an efficient way to protect the population from corrupt individuals as well as decreasing crime rates. However, housing all of these individuals is not cheap, the funding for this endeavor is taken directly from the taxes all of us have to pay. While I agree that petty crime offenders should compensate in some way for their crimes, further destroying their lives is not the answer.…

    • 986 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the last few decades, the U.S. population of incarcerated citizens exploded from around 300,000 to more than 2 million, with drug convictions accounting for a majority of the increase. The War on Drugs functions more realistically as…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Mass Incarceration is a nationwide epidemic that affects predominately the African – American and Latino population. America has five percent of the world’s population but 25 percent of the world’s prison population. Various policies dated back centuries helped to create this problem of mass incarceration. In 1971, our prison population was approximately 500,000 but after President Nixon proclaimed drug abuse was “public enemy number one” the prison population slowly began to increase.…

    • 1708 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    With that being said, I also want law enforcement putting people behind bars that deserve to be there. I think we can all agree that we would rather have a cell occupied by a violent criminal that possesses a threat to society, over a nonviolent drug related “criminal.” In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan introduced his “War on Drugs.” Beginning immediately, drug related offenders began to fill our cells and court systems (Criminal Justice Degree Hub). The number of inmates being jailed for drug related offenses went from 41,000 in the 1980s to 500,000 in 2011 (Criminal Justice Degree Hub).…

    • 2514 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Treatment vs. Incarceration for Opioid Abuse There are more than 15 million Americans that suffer from opioid abuse disorder (WHO,2014). This paper looks at treatment options verses incarceration. Out of the 2 million people in federal and state prison more than one-quarter of them suffer from drug abuse (Common Sense for Drug Policy, 2016). What is more astonishing is that most of them do not receive the treatment they need to recover from their opiate addiction.…

    • 1816 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    AFFIRMATIVE I affirm: Resolved: The abuse of illegal drugs ought to be treated as a matter of public health, not of criminal justice. I define the following key terms: Treated- to act or behave toward (a person) in some specified way to consider or regard in a specified way, and deal with accordingly: 2. to consider or regard in a specified way, and deal with accordingly 3.to deal with (a disease, patient, etc.) in order to relieve or cure.…

    • 1305 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I personally feel tougher sentences do not necessarily mean deterrence, especially with drug offenders. I also feel habitual offenders that are serving life sentences for non-violent crimes never received the correct treatment for them to stop repeat offending. This has led to the overcrowding of our prisons and cutbacks to resources which makes it even harder for inmates to receive any kind of treatment they may need. We live in a county that leads the world in sentencing offenders to prison yet our crime rates haven't changed("Criminal Justice," 2017). A study conducted in 2009 by the top criminologists in the United States discovered 88% of their peers believed the death penalty which is the harshest sentence one can be given, did not…

    • 204 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Out of all the nations, America has the largest incarceration rates in the world. How can America justify its methods of punishment when there are plenty of non-violent offenders residing in jails or prisons? From establishing the war on drugs, minimum sentencing laws, or sentence enhancements, America still has much to do to lower its incarceration rate. Can the United States successfully argue that punishing a non-violent drug offender with life without parole is fitting? The epidemic of mass incarceration within America speaks volumes as there is a continued pattern of imprisoning than…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Because nonviolent drug offenders often fall victim to circumstance, they ought not to be treated like criminals. Many drugs are highly addictive, and people may become addicts with as little as one use. Treating drug users like criminals won't actually solve the root of the problem: drug abuse. Nonviolent drug use offenders make up approximately 46% of inmates who are currently incarcerated1. A policy that affects this population will have a large impact on the criminal justice system.…

    • 568 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It is clear to everyone that the prison system is broken, yet most people choose to ignore this by just overlooking what is happening in prisons around the nation. It is known that the United States has the most prisoners of any developed country in the world. According to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) about 25% of the US population is in prison, jail, or under parole or probation. (“Criminal Justice Fact Sheet”). Because of these high numbers we can certainly say that the prison system is ineffective.…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Funding of Rehabilitation Programs in the Federal Prison System of America and Their Effect on Prisoners Prison rehabilitation can be defined as the re-integration into society of a person who has been convicted of crime, to counter habitual offending, also known as criminal recidivism. (Rehabilitation Center., n.d.) These rehabilitation programs can take the form of educational, artistic, recreational and drug abuse programs. Many prisons in the U.S. don’t fund a substantial quality of rehabilitation programs even though they have proven to be highly effective in reintegrating prisoners to the outside world; seen through a lowered recidivism rate in those prisons that have implemented them.…

    • 1371 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Of the 2.3 million people in prison, 25 percent of them are there on drug offenses (Tiger). This number is predicted to rise if those convicted on drug charges continue to get punished instead of going through rehab. Many people look at those charged with drug offences as if they are just low life addicts who deserve to be punished. There is medical evidence that proves that drug addiction is a disease and can be treated. Although, the way that the prison system is setup currently these prisoners are not treated as if they have a medical condition and these people just end up getting…

    • 1835 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays