The Separation Of Drug Abuse And Crime Essays Example

Drug abuse is a major criminal just issue. Well over a quarter of criminal offenses are committed when the perpetrator is high on drugs (“Drug Use and Crime”). However, I also believe the “War on Drugs” has been a failure, and the legal system needs to change to more effectively combat drug related crimes. I am not alone. According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, two-thirds of the American public think the government and law enforcement should concentrate more on treatment programs for drug addicts, and less on prosecuting non-violent offenders. Moreover, 63% want to eliminate mandatory sentencing laws (America’s New Drug Policy Landscape”).
The connection between drug use and crime is clear. Drug addicts will steal anything to support their drug habit. However, they should be prosecuted for the crimes they commit while high, not simply for buying or possessing drugs. The cure for being high, and being a drug addict, is treatment and sobriety. The solution for preventing serious crimes, such as stealing to support a drug habit, is prosecution and possibly incarceration. Drug use and crime are so intertwined that it is hard to imaging a full-fledged drug addict who is not involved in a seriously criminal lifestyle. Nevertheless, drug use should be seen as a health issue, that needs to be treated in the health care system. The crimes resulting from drug use – like stealing, driving under the influence, or selling large amounts of drugs to support a habit – are criminal issues, and need to be dealt with by the criminal justice system.
Drug abuse can be a lifestyle choice, while drug addiction is a an illness. Drug abusers being by making a lifestyle choice, and often end up with sick and addicted. It can start off casually, getting high socially, and will end up a disease, or even mental illness, that ruins their lives. Some assume that drug abusers lack a moral compass, discipline or willpower and that they could stop any time. However, the scientific research does not support these beliefs (“DrugFacts: Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction").  I have sympathy for drug abusers, but believe there needs to be a strict division between drug abuse, which needs medicine, and drug related crimes, which need law. I have no sympathy for criminals, and am saddened by the destruction that drugs have unleashed in communities around the country.

Works Cited

"America's New Drug Policy Landscape." Pew Research Center for the People and the Press RSS. N.p., 02 Apr. 2014. Web. 23 Jan. 2015.
"DrugFacts: Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction." DrugFacts: Understanding Drug Abuse and Addiction. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2015.
"Drug Use and Crime." Bureau of Justice Statistics, Drugs and Crime Facts: Drug Use and Crime. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.