In 2014, the United states led the world in incarcerated citizens per capita. Having only 4.4% of the world's population, they contained 22% of the world’s prisoners (DoJ). As long as these criminals are kept off the street where than can do no harm isn’t that a good thing? About half of these prisoners are in for non-violent, drug related crime which is arguably an addiction problem not a problem of law. When the average cost of a prisoner for the taxpayers is $31,286 per year, we see these numbers come together into what is clearly a problem in the United States of America. Too many low-risk, potentially functional citizens are incarcerated resulting in an overcrowded prison system that does not function to reintroduce members to society at the cost of the taxpayers money. I am proposing a refinement to the justice system to allow addicts to get the help they need and ensure these individuals incarcerated for drug related crimes can be reintroduced to society.
First we need to better evaluate the problem in order to properly create a solution. According to the US Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2013 the United States of America led the world in incarceration per capita with 716 per 100,000 of the national population. In 2007, correctional facilities cost the United States 74 billion dollars. Lowering this number could allow a lot of additional funding for education programs where poverty and crime rate go hand in hand, cutting off the problem at its source. The cause of this problem is rooted in our laws and justice system. With harsh penalties for non-violent crime, functional citizens are facing incarceration.
Drug related crimes vary in their intent, but a large percentage in the United States is possession and use. Addiction today is not considered a criminal offense but a disease that requires attention. Users have a diagnosable problem that requires a specific sort of treatment. Prisoners for drug related crimes do not get this treatment in correctional facilities where they have easier access to drugs. The result of this is individuals who do not re-enter society after being released from prison, instead they go back to use or relapse and end up back in prison. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports over 75% of prisoners return after 5 years of being released, many for the same drug related crimes.
A prime example of a different system for comparison can be found in Poland. Poland’s “Treatment not jail” program aims to lessen the punishment for personal use and divert those being penalized for possession and use to a therapist or other forms of treatment for addiction. This system shifts the population from prisons to treatment facilities where they may are given the tools to re-enter society as a functional citizen and stay free from drugs.
Another example of a slightly different approach can be found in Portugal. In Portugal, all drugs have been decriminalized. At first thought this would seem like chaos, but looking at the statistics we see a different story. Possession of small quantities became a public-health issue instead of criminal. Instead of arrest, you meet with doctors, lawyers, and social workers, where you are prescribed a treatment. Drug related HIV went down by over 90%. Drug related deaths are at 3 per 1,000,000 which is the second lowest in the European Union which averages 17.3 per 1,000,000. Portugal attacked their drug crisis by providing treatment to addicts instead of punishing them. Cutting the number of drug offenders in prisons by half.
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Now although both of these system have shown incredible results, each country is different and implementing their system may not have the same results, regardless, inspiration from such systems is possible. My suggested solution to the problem is to revise the way the United States treats drug offenses in the justice system.
My Plan
The first step in my plan is one that is already foreseeable in the not so distant future; full decriminalization of marijuana. Studies have continually shown benefits to the use of marijuana such as the treatment of glaucoma, prevention of seizures, and as treatment for mental disorders such as anxiety. On top of recreational use, these reasons only justify the legalization of the drug. The few states that have legalized marijuana have shown regulating and taxing the sale results in great income to be spent on infrastructure. ACLU reports that in 2010, 52% of all drug arrests were for marijuana related offences. By decriminalizing marijuana, half of all drug arrests are immediately eliminated. Remember our earlier numbers? About half of all incarcerated citizens were imprisoned for drug related crime. If half of those were for marijuana related incidents, legalization of the drug would cut 25% of incarceration immediately, reducing the overall number of incarcerated citizens and the cost to maintain them.
The second step in my plan is taking tips from Poland and Portugal. By lowering the penalty for personal use and shifting the penalties to treatment as opposed to punishment we prevent functional users from populating prisons and keep them contributing to society. By implementing therapy and counseling as treatments instead of typical punishment we educated users, assess addiction, and control their substance problems, as many personal users are still contributing members of society. Those found with more than a 14 day or two week supply are treated with greater counselling and assessment as an addict as a problem is more likely present with a greater supply of drugs. The result of this is recreational personal users do not end up populating prisons, they instead find the treatment they need to prevent their use from becoming an addiction.
The final step in my plan is education. I believe as a part of career and life preparation classes in school, students should be given the truth about drugs. Teenagers should learn the effects, short term and long term consequences, how to be safe, and what to do in certain situations as opposed to bias statistics and scare tactics about use. Part of all punishment for drug offenses should be mandatory seminars on drugs and what they do to a greater detail. Those currently in incarceration should receive similar counseling to learn the reality of the substances they may use.
The limitations of my plan exist in creating a clear new template for the justice system related to drug offences and having it pass through the system and be approved as law. I believe my plan, however, is a clear stepping stone in preventing drug abuse and increasing education on drugs. By shifting from punishment to treatment, we teach about drug abuse instead of locking addicts away which does not solve the problem. This change would also lower the cost of running correctional facilities, which add up to a cost of 74 billion per year, 31 thousand per prisoner per year in the United States. Having this money used elsewhere would allow greater growth to the country via free tax dollars and greater government spending via the income from the taxation of marijuana sales.