Introduction
Drug possession, drug trafficking, and drug use have become significant problems in American society. Substance abuse has been especially prevalent in the criminal justice system, as many offenders are addicted to drugs. Factors that contribute to drug abuse are peer pressure among the youth and dysfunctional families. Abuse and lack of love from parents lead people to look for options to fill the gap left. Society feels the impact of drug abuse since its effects are cut across many sectors. It is critical to find the root cause and tackle it using relevant means.
Factors Contributing to Increased Drug Crime
The problem of drug and substance abuse in criminal justice affects both the lives of offenders and those who interact with them. It is critical to comprehend the factors contributing to increased drug crime. The problem has become prevalent that key stakeholders have acknowledged its adverse effect on correctional systems. The increase in drug use and abuse is related to several factors, including an increase in illegal drug markets, drug use among young adults, and new methods of detecting drug use or trafficking, such as automatic license plate readers.
Moreover, drug crime has been fueled by the increasing availability of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, and ecstasy. Additional factors contributing to increased drug crime in criminal justice include poverty, lack of employment, and education. Measures such as drug testing should be established to reduce the spread of drug abuse (Galligan, 2021). Petty theft also plays a vital role in allowing people to afford illicit substances.
Drug abuse is a major problem affecting the citizens of major countries all over the world including the US. According to Monnat (2018), there were a total of 515,060 deaths in the U.S. resulting from drug overdoses and other drug-related causes. Addiction and drug use are considered to be synonymous, but they are not. Addiction is having a desire and an intention to use a drug. This study aims to assess why there is an increased availability of drugs in society and its consequences.
In contrast, substance use involves physical changes in one’s brain caused by the direct action of an intoxicating or stimulating chemical on nerve cells. Drug and substance abuse are easily accessible to most people, and many substances are available in the market today, including stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, and narcotics. Society has shifted its focus away from alcohol and tobacco consumption due to their adverse effects on health and development. Still, there has been no such significant shift regarding drug use.
Existing Data Related to Increased Availability of Drugs
The problem of drug and substance abuse in criminal justice is fundamental because it dramatically impacts the general population and increases the number of crimes. The exclusive source for data on drug interdiction missions and the foundation of U.S. supply-side drug policy is the Consolidated Counterdrug Database (CCDB) (McSweeney, 2020). The data in the CCDB provides a reliable dataset representing drug trafficking and various agencies’ responses to the crime. Drug traffickers are constantly adapting to new laws and precautions taken to prevent trafficking. McSweeny (2020) further found that the CCDB goes against the common assessments of drug interdiction effectiveness and further demonstrates the persistent failure in preventing the importation of drugs into the U.S. This clearly shows how illegal drug use has become a severe problem and a public health issue whose origins can be traced.
Drug use, abuse, and availability in the criminal justice system have implications for people who rely on crime-related services, including corrections officers and law enforcement personnel. Law enforcement encounters the problem of increased total per capita drug arrests due to high crime. Courts also hear drug abuse cases and give sentences on imprisoning the manufacturers and distributors of hard drugs. Research shows that drug use among inmates at prisons or jails is high across all correctional institutions. However, the availability of drugs in these environments is difficult to measure and collect data about their usage patterns.
When an analysis is done, it is realized that the effects of drug use and abuse cut across the whole of society. Law enforcement is forced to increase the budget to cater to increasing cases of drug use while courts have to take time on drug use cases which mostly end up with the accused being imprisoned. Focusing on trends in the increase in drug abuse will also help determine the main problem and hence focus on correcting it. These trends are established through data collected from law enforcement reports and court files.
Effect of Increased Availability of Drugs on the General Public
The effects of drugs on society are studied by measuring how many people take drugs and where they get the drugs. Drug and substance abuse and brain disorders resulting from drug abuse are public health problems and affect individuals and the general public (Muller, 2020). Data that is used to measure the impact of drugs on the public is provided by health organizations. The impacts of drugs can also be measured by their availability in the community, how easily they are obtained, and what the consequences are.
There are factors to be considered and various tools available for measuring the impact of the availability of drugs and substances abused on the public. The first factor is the availability of the drug or substance and how it impacts the community. The second factor is how a person responds to the availability of drugs and substances and whether they continue to use them. This study measured both factors using national surveys and field experiments conducted over many years. Both previous literature studies and new data analysis find a significant link between availability, accessibility, and accessibility (AASA), as well as some specific legislative reforms by states such as Colorado, where AASA is a vital component in addressing this mess.
Effects on the Criminal Justice System
The availability of drugs and substances has a direct effect on the criminal justice system. When substances are readily available, drug users have little incentive or need to maintain sobriety to avoid detection or apprehension by law enforcement officers. Drug addiction prevention is already a challenge facing almost all nations (Patoari, 2021). As a result, drug users tend to lie about their drug use making it difficult for judges and juries to make an informed decision when sentencing offenders whose substance abuse inadvertently led them to commit crimes. Closely related is that people who use illegal drugs experience severe health problems.
At the same time, criminal organizations use modern means to sell their illegal products, like online shopping and mobile application. Thus, it has become hard for law enforcement agencies to keep track of all the things happening in society. The problem of drugs in our society has become a public health issue, and its impact on the world economy is substantial. Addiction treatment costs are escalating at an alarming rate. The availability of illegal drugs and substances affects the structures and processes of the criminal justice system.
The prison population in Japan has continuously risen and has reached around 100,000 inmates. Prison rates are high due to the difficulty of finding suitable spaces for those with mental health issues and fiscal restraints on local governments. However, prisoners’ increased interest in obtaining treatment makes it necessary to establish prison-based treatment (Yitayih, 2018). This study looked at how the availability of illegal drugs impacts the criminal justice system and restructures it. Finally, addiction once considered a disease of the elderly and a social problem is now a growing health epidemic and has created new challenges in the criminal justice system.
Problem Statement
Many factors contribute to the availability of illegal drugs in the criminal justice system. These include the increase in drug-related crime, which is linked to rising levels of unemployment and poverty; A lack of good treatment options for drug users and addicts; The continued trafficking of drugs through organized crime; Over-reliance on drugs by law enforcement officers, who constitute a large proportion of the prison population; and Continued disproportion between supply and demand.
Solution, Definition, and Evaluation
A common complaint against the government is that they have made fighting organized crime the top priority. However, this can be attributed to unemployment rather than drug trafficking. Structural problems are the failure of economic, political, and social systems to provide opportunities for people to be involved in the labor force and take charge of their lives and the economy of working. We have used data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), a national annual survey administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The most recent data available from the NSDUH are from the year 2015 and are considered to be current up until February 2016. The data is essential because the NSDUH provides a dataset that can be used for event study analysis. Since most survey questions pertain to past year events in their responses ranging from 1-30 months and so we can analyze the years that have passed between the year 2003/2004 (Ahrnsbrak et al., 2016). This survey focuses on individuals who report current involvement with illegal drugs or substances, both prescriptions, over-the-counter, and nonprescription, as well as illegal activities, including misuse of alcohol and cigarette smoking.
Data sets selected explain the increased availability of illegal drugs and substances was obtained from different sources, including the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers for Disease Control, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Office of Applied Studies at the US Department of Agriculture, as well as other government bureaus throughout the United States. Data was a combination of statistics, population studies, statistical analysis, and demographics.
The initial benefits and drawbacks will help everyone in the agency understand that unemployment is a significant issue for criminal justice. Further, agencies will be aware of ways they can address this issue and strategies that successfully address the unemployment dilemma. This report’s main aim is to analyze criminal justice’s internal stakeholders. This research also examines how job opportunities will affect the internal stakeholders of criminal justice. In addition, this data will provide information on their features to help an agency make decisions around their roles in the implementation process and identify some possible solutions that could be beneficial.
The potential benefits, drawbacks, and overall impact of implementing technology solutions for criminal justice processes will vary for different stakeholders in the system. Law enforcement should be able to leverage data-driven intelligence from social media platforms and other technology platforms to help solve crimes. In addition, court officials should be able to use information reported by social media users as evidence in legal proceedings. They can use technology solutions to assist with more efficient practices in the courtroom.
On the positive side, re-entry programs such as Truth-in-Sentencing and Truth-in-Concealed-Carriers may benefit from modernizing education requirements for certification or licensing, resulting in reduced paperwork, increased operational efficiency, and a better-trained workforce. Another potential benefit is more extraordinary ability to identify and address new or emerging problems within justice systems after thorough analysis, which helps federal agencies monitor their operations for effectiveness.
Potential Solution’s Benefits and Drawbacks to External Stakeholders
External stakeholders of the criminal justice system also feel the impact of drug use and abuse. The impact is felt by families of drug addicts, businesses, groups serving crime victims, and society. The criminal justice system emphasizes public health and safety. The benefits of the criminal justice system in apprehending criminals improve the peace in society which otherwise is inexistent where drug-related crimes prevail. Most businesses enjoy this because businesses thrive in calm environments. After all, peace eliminated the need to be skeptical.
Businesses can stock products and be sure they will sell them without fear of closure due to criminal acts of drug addicts such as theft. Families of apprehended victims can live without fear of violent actions from the family members who abuse drugs. The drawbacks felt by groups serving crime sentences. Such people have to deal with traumatized victims who cannot understand why they are victimized. The groups incur high costs when trying to help the victims recover and maintain their health while managing mental health issues.
The benefits and drawbacks impact society at large. When the criminal justice system apprehends drug users, society enjoys peace and serenity. There are reduced cases of theft and burglary, violence, and rape. Various members of society can coexist peacefully. Some drawbacks experienced are lack of cooperation, especially from drug cartels. Some people have been brought us using money from drug sales, and therefore such people are not ready to give up their business. This lack of cooperation in bringing drug use and abuse is a significant challenge.
Using technology to fight drug abuse and drug-related crimes helps law enforcement get information about these crimes happening in real-time and act quickly to prevent a considerable impact on the crime from happening. Courts can access evidence faster, accelerating the trials and rulings and making it easy to manage the large numbers of cases presented daily. Correction centers can record and track information about criminals. It makes it easier for them to understand the types of treatments required and track progress as the treatment process continues.
Legal and Regulatory Recommendations for the Recommended Solution
Some recommendations for the criminal justice system would be to enhance prosecution integrity, ensure fair trials, and encourage fair sentencing. Modernizing the process through which hearing of drug cases is done helps improve the prosecution’s ability to act with integrity. Technology improves transparency because things are recorded as they happen, eliminating bias. The accused are assured of fair trials and accept their sentence, believing they are judged fairly. The technology ensures fair sentencing in that all criminals with issues related to drugs are treated equally and go through similar correction programs.
When implementing the regulations, acts such as robbery with violence or rape must be considered. All criminal justice stakeholders also have to consider the mental state of the accused when he did the crime. The causation, the relationship between the accused’s behavior and the result, should also be brought to light. When all these are understood, it is expected that a fair trial and sentencing will be done. Modernizing the criminal justice system enhances filing and record keeping. Such files and reports are stored in a database and can be retrieved easily. Case laws become more accessible due to the accessibility of data on similar cases.
Ethical Consideration in Implementing the Recommended Solution
Some major ethical issues in the criminal justice system are consideration of the role of informed consent and the necessity of confidentiality and immunity. Besides doing the right thing legally, ethics laws also emphasize doing the right thing morally. Informed consent is a critical issue in which the accused should be aware of his rights. Informed consent involves validity, deliberation, and information communication and is essential in ensuring laws are enforced ethically (Sandu, 2019). Modernizing the criminal justice system helps improve confidentiality, a critical ethical consideration in society. Information about criminals is stored digitally and encrypted to ensure it cannot be corrupted or interfered with.
Recommended Solution
Research provides a solution for current and future generations. Research provides data that, when incorporated into the current system helps improve technology and bring practical solutions. Technology has helped in adopting electronic files and tracking systems. Modernization of the criminal justice system has also helped hold large volumes of data that previously would have been lost or disposed of due to a lack of storage space and poor storage conditions. Technology improves fair sentencing by providing a wide variety of data which enhances informed decision-making.
Documentary evidence helps show on which side the truth lies. Documentary evidence is dependable, as information can only be recorded after thorough scrutiny and verification. Technology helps store documentary evidence in soft copy, making it hard to get lost. Artificial intelligence systems help collect large amounts of data that are too much for a single individual to process (Rana, 2022). It is also kept safe from theft or editing and is easy to access whenever required. Implementing technology into the criminal justice system should be evaluated to ensure it works as expected.
Progress is tracked against guidelines, and evaluation should be done frequently until the system ensures that technology works for the best. Modernizing the criminal justice system enables conducting e-sessions where drug abuse criminals are tried online. Sentences are delivered even when courtrooms are inaccessible. Judges can precede a hearing online even when they are not in similar locations with the accused, his lawyers, and the prosecution. Technology will help decrease the enormous load of cases that are yet to be heard due to lack of time and the inaccessibility of courts.
All stakeholders of the criminal justice system are involved when technology is implemented. Time is saved during hearings because the evidence is readily available. The accused drug abuser is also comfortable with the ruling because the process will be transparent. Society benefits in that even when they cannot access the courtrooms, they can follow the proceedings online, which means justice and peace prevails for all. Technology eliminated the limit of cases to be heard since systems are in place to enhance the speed and efficiency of court sessions.
Presentation Considerations
Modernization of the criminal justice system will have many benefits that need to be enjoyed by all stakeholders. It is, therefore, essential to communicate the changes with the stakeholders. All channels and communication strategies should be analyzed later to ensure they are effective. The proper measures in place should help improve transparency and openness when delivering information. Society will therefore be able to report drug issues easily, including where the drugs are bought. Having the right communication strategies will help curb the problem of drugs being easily accessible.
The criminal justice system should ensure consistency in delivering information for all internal stakeholders, such as judges, prosecutors, lawyers, and the jury. Another strategy is to use visual aids such as posters to relay the information and ask open-ended questions to leave room for everyone to participate. Staff should be trained in practical communication skills, enhancing content delivery. The criminal justice system should form a habit of nurturing two-way communication where each party listens and leaves room for the other party to participate.
Channels to communicate with internal stakeholders should be established to ensure the solution’s effectiveness. In the modern world, emails have become the norm of word place communication, just like a mobile phone is for general communication. Therefore, emails are an effective means of communication. An intranet involves relaying information through a local network, especially in private businesses. It is an excellent method for internal stakeholders because all members will get the information accurately and on time. Another channel that could be used is the employee newsletters which will help all staff in the criminal justice system access the information.
Data supporting modernization as a method of reducing accessibility to drugs will be presented through tables and texts. Trends in an increase in drug abuse, the number of inmates arrested due to drug abuse, the number of victims affected by drug abuse, and the number of correction centers available can be presented in tables that are effective and accurate (Rana, 2020). Tables are easy to interpret and understand. Presenting data in tables will help stakeholders analyze all the data and eventually see the benefits of modernization. Text presentations in sentences and paragraphs will help interpret data in tables. Moreover, it can be used to explain the effects of drug abuse on the users, victims, and society in general.
Effective channels and strategies should be established to ensure external stakeholders understand the impact of modernization in helping reduce accessibility to drugs. Live events and conferences should be held to interact with the stakeholders. Here, they can communicate their issues effectively and give feedback on what they think about modernization; hence the criminal justice system will get first-hand information. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube will ensure that the information spreads widely, reaching all stakeholders.
Listening keenly to the stakeholders is a strategy that will ensure you get all the required information from their response to modernization. The criminal justice system should monitor feedback and follow up to ensure necessary corrections are done. Data should be presented to the stakeholders through texts and diagrams. Texts will explain the importance of modernization the society and the victims. Diagrams are easy to interpret and can help people refrain from using drugs and report the supply of drugs.
References
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