War on Drugs - Assignment Example

Topic: War on Drugs War on Drug is a phase that generally applies to an initiative involving the prohibition of drugs as well as military aid and intervention that is aimed at defining and reducing the trade of illegal drugs in the US. This endeavor comprises of a combination of drug policies, which intend to reduce the acts of producing, distributing and consuming of illegal drugs. The media made the phrase popular after a press conference that was given by President Nixon in 1971, subsequent to a publication to the Congress on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control where he stated that drug abuse had become the biggest public enemy. The message to the Congress comprised of text concerning with devoting more federal resources to preventing new additions and rehabilitating those who were already addicted, however, this part was not the center of attention like the war on drugs. It is estimated that the US devotes more than one billion dollars every year towards the War on Drugs and this research seeks to find out if the War on Drugs has been successful in reducing the use of illegal drugs in the United States and how effect this is on the overall drug issue. Contents Abstract 2 Contents 3 Introduction 4 Literature review 4 Hypothesis/problem statement 7 Research design/methodology 8 Research questions 8 Meta-Analysis 8 Definitions 9 References 10 Appendix 11 Introduction Almost three million people use eighty percent of the illegal hard drugs in the United States and there is highly likelihood of dealing with the Drug-trafficking organizations through changing the behavior of the heavy users of these drugs (Cassel & Bernstein, 2007). A reduction of the rate of consumption of the casual users will not have a considerable effect on the flow of drugs into the country or the flow of money into the areas that produce the drugs. The experience the US has had with marketing’s power has inclined the country to prefer prohibiting and enforcing rather than legalizing and marketing of the drugs. However, this option has associated consequences as an increased number of American citizens go to jail for offences associated to drugs as well as parole violations as compared to property crimes (Alexandrova, 2004). Further, even though the nation spends five times more to jail the people convicted of drug offences that it did thirty years ago, the prices of cocaine and other drugs have reduced by eighty to ninety percent compared to the prevailing prices during the beginning of the war on drugs. Consequently, critics have argued that imprisoning the low-level dealers in the streets is a futile endeavor as their transactions that cost approximately two hundred dollars will cost the state almost one hundred thousand dollars in the offender is given a sentence that lasts three years. Further, putting numerous drug dealers in prison results in individuals who, when they are released from prison with ruined employment prospects, can only go back to dealing drugs. Literature review A study by RAND Corporation was funded by the US Defense Department in 1986 and it revealed that using the armed forces in the interdiction of drugs entering the United States would have very little impact on cocaine trafficking and might increase the profits realized by cocaine cartels and manufacturers (Shanty, 2011). The study’s report resolved that the endeavors to interdict drugs through the assets of the military could not have any significant impact on the import of illegal drugs in to the US. In the early nineties, the administration under President Clinton ordered and funded a key cocaine study policy by RAND Corporation, which reached the conclusion that three billion dollars should be redirected form federal, and local law enforcement to treatment. According to the report, the most inexpensive way of dealing with the use of drugs was treatment as treatment was twenty three times more effective that waging a war on the supply of drugs. Currently, the prices of illegal drugs have dropped while they have been made more potent therefore demonstrating that the efforts directed at controlling the global illegal drug market through law enforcement is not successful (Goldberg, 2010). It would be satisfying if the heavily armed law enforcement agents could have the ability to intimidate the people who supply drugs enough to make their businesses collapse. However, according to Kan (2012), when one side takes up arms or starts arresting people, the other side will most probably respond in the same way and this hurts the innocent people who are caught up in the crossfire. Using armed force against the drug cartels almost certainly leads to counterforce, and this is the main reason why positive changes in the society are difficult to achieve using force. Further, Daugherty and Leukefeld (1998) are of the opinion that demonizing drugs and attempting to present them precarious and criminal has to a particular extent failed. People, especially the youth, who wish to impress their peers and show they are grown up will be drawn towards secretive products or the activities that may put them at risk since they are illegal. Through linking illegal drugs with delinquency and degeneracy, the authorities might inadvertently make them more attractive for teenagers as well as individuals of college age who have the eagerness to try things they have been instructed not to deal with. The main motivation for the people who produce drugs to risk being incarcerated and death is the awareness that profitable markets for their products will always be there and buyers will be abundant (Thoumi, 2003). Public relations initiatives that are intended to scare people from drugs appeared to have achieved some success in the nineties when the rates of drug use in American people from twelve years and above decreased to below seven percent. However, by 2012, these percentages had escalated again to about nine percent meaning that twenty four million people in the US can be officially considered as regular users of drugs. There are particular drugs that go in and out of fashion, hut the temptations and inclinations to escape from the daily stresses associated with life through drowning potentially addictive substances that alter the state of mind continues to be irresistible to a significant section of the population. The people advocating for the War on Drugs state that the chief achievement from this initiative is the decreased incidences of drug usage and dependence. Even though basic economics implies that under particular conditions, increased prices of goods results in a decreased demand for that product, the level of the reaction is dependent on the availability of the alternatives for the product that is prices highly (Keefer & Loayza, 2010). For instance, many people who use drugs might find alcohols as a good alternative for some drugs as the cost of drugs continues to escalate. Concluding that increased prices, leads to a decrease in demand only under specific conditions is particularly vital in the consideration of the impact of increased drug prices as a result of the war on drugs. Proscribing the production and sale of drugs only increased the prices of these drugs while having other important impacts. For instance, while some of the people are unwilling to purchase illegal products, drugs are an exception since the use of drugs mainly begins when people are still adolescents and young adults. Therefore, rebelliousness may lead them to using and selling drugs specifically because these activities are not legal. Some of the drugs such as cocaine and heroin are very addictive, and even though people addicted to the use of alcohol and cigarettes can break their addictions through the assistance of various groups and using patches or fake cigarettes, it is more difficult to break an addiction to illegal products (Goldstein, 2001). The people addicted to these drugs may be cautious not to go to clinics for assistance, as they fear being reported for the consumption of illegal substances. Since the consumption of these drugs must be done in secrecy to avoid being arrested and convicted, most of the people who consume drugs have to change their way of life to avoid being detected. Further, the manner in which the war on drugs has made the products illegal hinders the different means of assisting drug addicts like the drug equivalent of nicotine patches. Therefore, despite the war on drugs inducing lower drug use through increased prices, there is likelihood that it has also increased the addiction rates. The fact that drugs are illegal has made it difficult for addicts to seek assistance in order to break their addictions as it results in associations with other addicts and less with the people who may be in a position to assist. Hypothesis/problem statement The most fundamental research question as far as this research is concerned is, “Has the U.S. government’s war on drugs done anything to reduce the use of illegal drugs?” The research will aim to answer this main question through developing relevant research questions that will include: Has the War on Drugs decreased the use of drugs in the United States especially among the young people? Has the War on Drugs made things better for the people who were already using drugs? Has criminalizing the production and use of drugs decreased the cases of people selling and using drugs in the United States? Research design/methodology For this research, a quantitative approach will be adopted as it allows testing of relationships and examination of cause and effect interactions among the variables. Further, the research will use a descriptive survey design will be used and the data will be collected through administration of questionnaires that will be distributed directly to the respondents by the researcher. The descriptive survey was chosen as it gives a precise portrayal of aspects such as behavior, opinions and knowledge among others of a situation or a group. The questionnaires that will be used for the collection of data will be structured in such a manner that the questions will be closed ended to make sure that there is a consistency in the answers and make the analysis of this results easier. Research questions This study will aim at identifying evaluating whether the war on drugs in the United States has been successful in reducing the consumption of illegal drugs. Apart from the main issue on whether the war on drugs has been effective in reducing the consumption of illegal drugs, this study will assess the factors that are associated with the effectiveness of the war on drugs. in particular, the research will aim at answering the following research questions: 1) Has the war on drugs been effective in reducing the use of illegal drugs in the United States? 2) What are the elements of success as far as the war on drugs is concerned? Meta-Analysis Research that intends to summarize a body of research on a particular topic has various options to choose from including narrative views as well as meta-analysis. The narrative review is the oldest method in regard to research synthesis and tries to make a summary of the research findings across studies, but this mode of synthesis has its share of flaws. A review that is too big my bring difficulties during the interpretation process as a consequence of the variation between studies. In trying to make the review more manageable, a subset of studies may be chosen from the bigger body of works but the findings based on these reviews have likelihood of having a bias depending on the criteria used to select the subset. Therefore, based on this form of bias, this type of summaries tends to be different across reviewers. The meta-analysis is similar to the narrative review as it aims at creating a summary of findings across a body of research while being defined as the statistical analysis of large collections of analysis results from various studies with the aim of integrating the findings. The same as other means of review, the aims of meta-analysis are many while particularly seeking to summarize research findings, point out the main characteristics that are associated with findings and identification of any recommendations that may be used for research carried out in the future as well as policy implications. Therefore, this study will also use meta-analysis in the process of finding out whether the war on drugs has been a successful endeavor. Definitions Law enforcement: for the purpose of this study, law enforcement refers to the police, the DEA, the military as well as the FBI Illegal drugs: for the purpose of this study, illegal drugs refers to the drugs whose production and use has been proscribed including cocaine, heroin and marijuana among others. References Alexandrova, A. (2004). AIDS, drugs, and society. New York: International Debate Education Association. Cassel, E., & Bernstein, D. (2007). Criminal behavior. Mahwah, N.J.: L. Erlbaum Associates. Daugherty, R., & Leukefeld, C. (1998). Reducing the risks for substance abuse. New York: Plenum Press. Goldberg, R. (2010). Drugs across the spectrum. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Goldstein, A. (2001). Addiction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Kan, P. (2012). Cartels at war. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books. Keefer, P., & Loayza, N. (2010). Innocent bystanders. Washington DC: World Bank. Shanty, F. (2011). The nexus. Santa Barbara, Calif.: Praeger Security International. Thoumi, F. (2003). Illegal drugs, economy and society in the Andes. Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press. Appendix EFFICIENCY OF WAR ON DRUGS QUESTIONNAIRE Demographic data Please mark an x next to the option that best identifies you. Gender ____ Female ____ Male Age ____ 21-30 ____ 31-40 ____ 41-50 ____ 51-60 ____ 60+ Race/Ethnicity ____ African-American/Blackxxxxxxxxx ____ Asian-American ____ European American/Whitexxxxxxx ____ Latino/a ____ Native American xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx____ Pacific Islander ____ Other Please provide answers to the questions below in your own words 1) Has the US War on Drugs had any direct effect on you or your immediate family? 2) Have you/or a family member had difficulties in getting access to the following services as a consequence of being involved with illegal substance use/activity? (please select all that are applicable)  ____ therapy ____ counseling ____ drug treatment ____ drug rehabilitation ____ economic development/job training ____ education ____ health care ____ Medicaid ____ legal services ____ housing/shelter ____ welfare/public assistance ____ other (please describe) 3). Do you believe the services mentioned can be supportive for individuals who consume or have an association with illegal drugs? How? 4). Please provide a description you or your family members’ involvement with the criminal justice system as a consequence of the War on Drugs 5). Please share any additional perceptions, outlooks, or experiences you consider would be helpful in appreciating your experiences with the US War on Drugs Read More