The Presidents National Drug Control Strategy - Assignment Example

212435 Read the President’s National Drug Control Strategy http www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/ndcs04/index.html Prepare a 050– 1,750 word (3 – 5 pages) paper addressing the following: a. Summarize the President’s policy underlying the stated objectives: 1) Stopping drug use before it starts The president outlined plans to reduce the problem of illegal drug use before it starts via various means. The US government would step up its efforts to prevent illegal drugs to reach the country in the first place. This is to be done by continuing the practice of co-operating with the governments of the countries that export drugs into the US such as Afghanistan, Mexico, and Columbia. That strategy means that the amount of drugs available will continue to decline as it has done in the last several years. Learning from previous policy failures means that the cutting of foreign supplies of drugs is linked with drug treatment programs. The use of drug treatment resources means that reduced supplies of drugs will not have a detrimental side effect of increased crime levels as addicts seek to pay the higher prices charged by suppliers because there will be fewer addicts. The president’s strategy will only work for as long as the Federal government can provide drug treatment to reduce the demand for illegal narcotics and the over all number of users (http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/ndcs04/index.html). 2) Providing drug treatment resources where they are needed; The provision of drug treatment resources is essential for the continued success of the president’s drug reduction campaigns. Effective drug treatment reduces the number of addicts and users within the country, which in turn lowers the demand for drugs. Lower the demand for drugs in many respects is more important than reducing the supply of drugs. The provision of drug treatment recognises that simply imprisoning drugs dealers and users at the same point, as cutting off supplies from abroad does not reduce the demand for narcotics over the long-term. Drug treatment can stop people from buying and taking drugs, and if it cures them of their addictions that means they will no longer wish to buy drugs at all. Not only would the extension of drug treatment programs lower the total demand for such illegal substances it would drastically reduce the criminal, economic, health as well as the social consequences of drugs taking in the country. The links between illegal drugs and other criminal activities are well known besides been well documented. The drugs trade is highly profitable leading to gang warfare and increasing the size of the problems posed by organized crime gangs. Drug addicts are also involved in criminal activities besides the taking of illegal substances in the first place. Addicts will often not be able to work to feed their habits and therefore will have to resort to illegal methods of earning money to pay for their drugs. Addiction drives people into committing robberies and muggings as well as prostitution in order to raise money for drugs. Drug prevention treatment when it succeeds means that they no longer have to commit crimes o pay for drugs that they no longer crave. 3) Attacking the economic basis of the drug trade. Attacking the economic basis of the drug trade also relies on the successful combination of various tactics instead of just individual policies. The president’s drug program acts on different fronts in order to maximise the chances of successfully attacking the economic basis of the drug trade. The strategy works upon a global basis in order to reduce or completely remove the foreign supplies of illegal drugs into the country. The more drugs that come into the US then the harder it is to reduce the drug trade. Put quite simply the greater the amount of illegal drugs successfully smuggled into the US the lower of the over all costs of these drugs at the street level. The destruction of drug production in other countries such as Afghanistan and Columbia has been a strategy of US administrations since the 1980s. However the difference with the present strategy of the current Federal administration is that the destruction of drugs production abroad is that it goes hand in hand with efforts to restrict the demand for drugs instead of just the supply of them. The president’s policy has stepped up efforts to make sure that demand is reduced. The extension of drug treatment programs is a means of lowering the demand for illegal drugs. The reduction in the number of addicts has the consequence of reducing the number of customers for the drug dealers and the organized crime gangs to make money out of. The past failure to significantly reduce the number of drug users has meant that previous successes in cutting off the drug supply only drove up the cost of illegal narcotics (http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/ndcs04/index.html). Another way in which the economic basis of the drug trade is attacked is by taking the assets of drug dealers and also the organized crime gangs that are caught. Even when the demand for illegal drugs has been reduced the profits that drugs dealers and organized crime gangs can potentially make is still large. Increased chances of being caught and having heir assets confiscated means the incentives for selling illegal drugs in the US are declining as well as the risks rising (http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/ndcs04/index.html). b. Analyze the President’s policy, by answering the following questions: 1) What role does law enforcement play in the President’s drug policy? Effective law enforcement has a very important role to play in the President’s drug policy, as it is the means in which drugs dealers and organized crime gangs can be punished once they have been convicted. Long prison sentences as well as the confiscation of money made from the drugs trade are the main methods that law enforcement agencies can take in order to undermine and reverse the illegal drugs trade in both the US and abroad. The main objectives of the American law enforcement agencies is to weaken the grip of organized crime gangs and drugs cartels upon the production, distribution, and the sale of illegal drugs. The onus is placed upon the harsher punishment of the most important drug dealers and gang members rather than the small time pushers and the drug addicts. Law enforcement can also have an important role in the President’s drug policy as it has increased the number of drugs users and addicts that have been helped by the provision of drug treatment program to treat them. Law enforcement agencies can make inclusion upon the drug treatment programs as a condition of peoples’ sentences, by offering to reduce custodial terms in return for rehabilitation treatment. Persuading petty criminals and drug addicts caught committing crimes to pay for their habits to take drug prevention treatment will assist in reducing the over all demand for illegal narcotics (http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/ndcs04/index.html). 2) What role do the school and community play in the President’s drug policy? Schools and local communities also have a highly important place within the framework of the President’s drug policy, as they are fundamental for the success of drug prevention schemes. Both schools and local communities have problems with drugs taking within their midst. The taking of drugs undermines the peace and the stability of both schools and local communities. Under the President’s drugs policy schools and local communities have a role in spreading the anti-drugs message and preventing people becoming involved in drug taking in the first place. Schools and local community organizations have facilities to spread the anti-drugs message and will hopefully be able to persuade the most impressionable and vulnerable individuals within from becoming in drugs taking. Peer pressure, rebelling against authority, and simply being bored can be important factors in people getting involved with drugs. If schools and local communities can reduce these influences upon people then the demand for drugs and those tempted to try them should hopefully decreased. 3) How (or where) does the arrest of drug dealers’ factor into the President’s drug policy? The arrest of drug dealers is also an important component of the President’s drug policy and can help that policy to be a long-term success. Drug dealers are essential to the continuation of the illegal drug trade, and if there are fewer of them operating in the country then it is harder to buy drugs. Arresting drug dealers is certainly important in ensuring the success of the President’s drug policy. Drug dealers need to be arrested in order to reduce the size of the drug trade. The more drug dealers that are arrested and imprisoned the better for the US in its efforts to end the drug trade. The effective punishment of drug dealers needs to go hand in hand with arresting them. Being arrested is no deterrent if none of them are imprisoned or punished. Perhaps it would also be sensible to offer the smaller drug dealers reduced sentences in return for providing evidence against the major dealers and organized crime gangs (http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/ndcs04/index.html). 4) What is your opinion of the stated policy? Explain. My opinion of the stated policy is a high one. That is due to the policy seeking to tackle the drug trade on several different fronts such as reducing supply, decreasing demand, and attempting to treat addiction. This is a logical means of tackling the problem and has learnt from the failure of previous policies to reverse the drug trade. 5) How can we measure the effectiveness of the President’s drug policy? The effectiveness of the President’s drug policy can be measured in various ways. If the policy is effective then the number of people convicted of drug related offences should decline and the over all levels of crime should decrease. In the short – term the effectiveness of the policy should be measured by the number of drug dealers arrested and subsequently convicted. In the short-term the policy will mean that more people are treated for drug related problems and conditions. However the number of people being treated should decline once fewer people start taking drugs in the first place. References http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/policy/ndcs04/index.html Read More