A drug is generally defined as something that alters behavior, perception or consciousness. The FDA specifically defines a drug as “a substance (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body” (2012). The main types of drugs used today are alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, heroin, crack, cocaine, steroids, methamphetamines, barbiturates, marijuana, and all manner of prescription drugs (NIDA, n.d.). A handful of these drugs are illegal in the United States, some are only conditionally legal, and at least one, caffeine, is legal and unrestricted. Today, the idea of illegal alcohol sale and consumption seems ridiculous. This too is true for many of today’s modern legal drugs like tobacco and caffeine. The legality of
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Addiction to any drug, legal or not, can negatively influence behavior in many ways: it may change someone’s personality; it can impact work performance and/or attendance; it can become a financial or emotional strain on the family; and it may create long lasting, even dire, health problems for the addict. People consumed with drug addiction often become reckless and use any means available to them to procure their drug of choice. Addicts are a real problem for society when they result to criminal behavior to feed their addiction or when they decide that nothing in their life matters more than feeding their …show more content…
The United States’ heavy-handedness in dealing with drug crimes, defined as “using, possessing, manufacturing, or distributing drugs classified as having a potential for abuse”, began in the 1970s and 1980s when the U.S. Congress and several states enacted mandatory minimum sentencing (Craddoc, Collins, & Timrots, 1994). Mandatory sentencing does not allow a judge to weigh all the facts of a case when determining an offender’s sentence, instead these laws force fixed prison terms on those convicted regardless of history or circumstance. Of course these harsh sentences were meant to be a deterrent to would-be drug users and pushers, but considering that over 46 percent of today’s federal prison population is incarcerated due to a drug offence, it is plain to see it is not a deterrent at all (BOP, 2016). The mandatory sentences place non-violent offenders in prisons alongside inmates convicted of rape, assault, and even murder. The mandatory sentences are long and inflexible; they wreak havoc on the lives of those convicted and cost the American taxpayers millions of dollars annually. Money that Portugal has set aside since 2001 to rehabilitate drug abusers instead of incarcerate them. Portugal is so far the only nation to decriminalize personal recreational drug use and the
Addiction to any drug, legal or not, can negatively influence behavior in many ways: it may change someone’s personality; it can impact work performance and/or attendance; it can become a financial or emotional strain on the family; and it may create long lasting, even dire, health problems for the addict. People consumed with drug addiction often become reckless and use any means available to them to procure their drug of choice. Addicts are a real problem for society when they result to criminal behavior to feed their addiction or when they decide that nothing in their life matters more than feeding their …show more content…
The United States’ heavy-handedness in dealing with drug crimes, defined as “using, possessing, manufacturing, or distributing drugs classified as having a potential for abuse”, began in the 1970s and 1980s when the U.S. Congress and several states enacted mandatory minimum sentencing (Craddoc, Collins, & Timrots, 1994). Mandatory sentencing does not allow a judge to weigh all the facts of a case when determining an offender’s sentence, instead these laws force fixed prison terms on those convicted regardless of history or circumstance. Of course these harsh sentences were meant to be a deterrent to would-be drug users and pushers, but considering that over 46 percent of today’s federal prison population is incarcerated due to a drug offence, it is plain to see it is not a deterrent at all (BOP, 2016). The mandatory sentences place non-violent offenders in prisons alongside inmates convicted of rape, assault, and even murder. The mandatory sentences are long and inflexible; they wreak havoc on the lives of those convicted and cost the American taxpayers millions of dollars annually. Money that Portugal has set aside since 2001 to rehabilitate drug abusers instead of incarcerate them. Portugal is so far the only nation to decriminalize personal recreational drug use and the