Crowding Effect on Correctional Organizations - Essay Example

?Incarceration arising from drug trafficking is what has fundamentally led to the crowding effect in correctional organizations i.e. and federal prisons and halfway houses. The war on drugs has implied harsh punishment on persons found either using or selling drugs, ignoring the level at which it is practiced, as is the case with high-school children looking to earn some extra money to support their families. Furthermore, persons incarcerated for minor drug trafficking find it difficult to get employment having being convicted. This leads them to refining the skills they already have in drug trade (Becker and Murphy, 2013). Established in the 1970s by President Nixon, the war on drugs has resulted in devoting of substantial government resources to law enforcement and criminal justice processes. Its initiation was aimed at taking a firm stand on drugs because of the effect that drug abuse has had on society. The problem comes about when prisons become overcrowded as facilities, and supervisory staff is not enough. This, in turn, leads the government to injecting more resources to correctional organizations at the expense of other pressing issues such as healthcare and education programs. Conversely, such organizations may be ignored causing prison facilities to be strained and prison staff over-worked without earning any extra income; this is usually the more common scenario (Yahoo! Inc, 2007). Pinpointing the Source In order to rectify this problem, which essentially is an inflated budget, it is vital to pinpoint the source of the overall problem of drug abuse in the society. Questions such as which are the most common illicit drugs, where do the drugs come from, who distributes them, what are the loopholes that enable this distribution persist, how else can persons be deterred to participate in drug trade. This breakdown allows specific solutions to be arrived at; without having to call for harsh punishment directly, which translates to serving longer terms in prison. The government should consider the fact that rehabilitation through imprisonment is not a solution for drug traffickers; because what instead happens is that they interact with much worse criminals and get further inclined to a criminal lifestyle. Moreover, having a criminal record prevents them from getting legitimate jobs thereby, leading them back to drug trade (Yahoo! Inc, 2007). In some states, the war on drugs has kept use of government resources at bay by seizing assets from drug traffickers. This has been viewed as a self-financing method but in reality resources gained from asset forfeiture end up being transferred to other departments with scarce resources. In addition, police agencies have been noted to seize assets from innocent persons with the aim of acquiring resources for financing their departments. The resources amassed from asset seizures end up diverting focus from actual crime fighting. There needs to be a shift in thinking whereby drug prohibition has proven not to be effective in alleviating drug trade. Over time, the argument for drug prohibition has been that there is a relationship between drug trafficking and other violent crimes such as car theft and robbery. Therefore, if drugs are prohibited, the law is better enforced as such crimes are prevented (Benson, 2009). However, this has been proven ineffective as prisons have become overcrowded and most states have had to call for release of petty offenders. This has proven quite risky, as individuals who are viewed as petty offenders may have considered graduating to higher crimes because of interacting with serious offenders. Either way, the petty offenders arrested for drug trade are released back into society without any assurance that they have been rehabilitated. The issue then becomes identifying a way of effectively rehabilitating drug traffickers where incarceration is not an option. Another issue is the stringent laws on parolees as most of them will inevitably violate them and end up stuck in the vicious recycle of the prison system (Romaine, 2011). Workable Solutions In my home state California, the main problem is that drug prohibition has allowed for cropping up of criminal organizations that make it easy to access illicit drugs. This has in turn made the war on drugs funding for gangs, as they are able to monopolize the product. Crimes viewed as related are in reality resultant; that is violent crimes such as assassinations occur because gangs are fighting to own and control the illegal drug market. Moreover, such gangs provide a source of employment to youth, mostly high school dropouts, who have a criminal record; hence, cannot be employed. In essence, drug prohibition does more harm than good (Romaine, 2011). Consequently, California has seen its lawmakers regulate the use and distribution of marijuana, which has previously led to numerous arrests that translate to too many prisoners and not enough facilities. The estimated number of persons arrested due to possession of marijuana is well over 750,000 every year. Decriminalization on marijuana will see prisons free up and focus shift on serious crimes. This will in turn curb the crowding effect. In addition, its legalization implies accessing a new source of revenue as taxation will occur (Newman, 2012). Nevertheless, there are alarming points arising from this enactment, for example, it is reported that in the state of Alaska, the use of marijuana increased two-fold when it was decriminalized. This suggests that the law is contributing to degradation of the society. A better solution would be establishing institutions that will focus on rehabilitating drug traffickers and more importantly, educate the youth on the serious consequences of participating in drug trade. Halfway houses should be better managed with law officers, judges and prosecutors combining efforts to ensure that released convicts can access jobs and stay away from drug trade. Also, decision-makers who strive to appear as having a firm stand on war on drugs, should see through their decisions by following up on management of prisons. The general idea is to provide relief to the overcrowded prisons by cutting costs of incarceration and finding less costly, but effective ways of dealing with drug traffickers (Yahoo! Inc, 2007). References Becker, G., Murphy, K. (2013). “Have We Lost the War on Drugs?” Wall street Journal. Retrieved from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324374004578217682305605070.html Yahoo! Inc. (2007). “The War on Drugs and its Impact on Colorado’s Correction Agencies”. Yahoo Contributor Network. Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/the-war-drugs-its-impact-colorados-corrections-592968.html Benson, B. (2009). “Escalating the War on Drugs: Causes and Unintended Consequences. Stanford Law School. Retrieved from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Escalating+the+war+on+drugs%3A+causes+and+unintended+consequences.-a0202203357 Romaine, J. (2011). “California Prison Overcrowding”. International Business Times. Retrieved from < http://www.ibtimes.com/california-prison-overcrowding-hows-war-drugs-working-out-285805> Newman, T. (2012). “9 Signs that the Drug War is Almost Over”. Salon. Retrieved from http://www.salon.com/2012/12/16/9_signs_the_war_on_drugs_is_almost_over/ Read More